THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S 
MANUAL 


Important  Legislation  in  the  United  States 
Affecting  Women  and  Children 


WHITE  SPACES  INDICATE  GOOD  LEGISLATION, 

BLACK  SPACES  POOR  OR  NO  LEGISLATION, 

COLOR  SPACES  FULL  SUFFRAGE  STATES 


Circle  1  Industrial  Welfare  Commis- 
sion to  regulate  hours,  wages 
and  working  conditions  of 
women  and  children 

2  Child  Labor— 14  year  limit. 
Guarded  exemptions  during 
vacations  are  allowed  and 
poverty  exemptions  when 
these  are  neutralized  by 
Mothers'  Pensions  laws 

Note :  Neither  Illinois  nor  any  < 
are    Included    as    full    suffrage 


CircIeS  Compulsory  education— State 
wide 

4  Eight  or  nine  hour  day  for 
women 

5  Minimum  wage 

6  Mothers'  pensions 

7  Equal  guardianship 

8  Age  of  consent.    18  year*— 
chaste  or  unchaste 

9  Red  light  abatement 
10  Prohibition 

f  the  Victory  States  of  1917 
states    la    cbart    analysis 


THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S 
MANUAL 


BY 

S.  E.  FORMAN 

AND 

MARJOBIE  SHULER 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

CARRIE  CHAPMAN  CATT 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1918 


Copyright,  1918,  by 
THE  CENTUEY  Co, 


This  book  is  sent  forth  to  meet  the  evident  desire 
of  the  American  woman  to  know  more  about  her  gov- 
ernment. Its  purpose  is  not  to  satisfy  that  desire 
but  to  stimulate  it.  The  facts  which  it  contains  about 
the  government  have  been  selected  mainly  from  one 
of  Dr.  Forman's  books,  "The  American  Republic." 
The  introduction  for  the  woman  voter  has  been  written 
by  one  whose  supreme  gifts  are  helping  to  bring  about 
world  recognition  of  the  relationship  between  woman 
and  government,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  presi- 
dent of  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance 
and  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  As- 
sociation. 

MARJORIE  SHULER. 


392470  (\ 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  VOTE  AND  THE  VOTER 

By  CARRIE  CHAPMAN  CATT 

President  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage 

Association  and  of  the  International  Woman 

Suffrage  Alliance 

OF  the  27,011,330  women  of  voting  age  in  the 
United  States,  more  than  one-third  are  now  enfran- 
chised, either  as  voters  for  presidential  electors,  or 
as  fully  as  our  present  national  laws  permit  women 
to  be  enfranchised.  No  woman  in  the  United  States 
is  yet  enfranchised  as  is  her  husband  or  her  father 
or  her  son  or  her  brother,  and  will  not  be  until 
woman  suffrage  is  incorporated  in  the  national  con- 
stitution. Not  even  then,  unless  she  can  come  to  hold 
her  naturalization  in  her  own  person  instead  of  as 
a  cloak  to  be  put  on  and  off  as  she  marries,  unmarries 
or  is  widowed. 

Whatever  the  voting  strength  of  these  more  than 
9,000,000  women  of  voting  age  may  be,  the  fact  of 

vii 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

practical  value  for  such  a  book  as  the  present  one  is 
that  a  large  and  ever  increasing  number  of  women 
citizens  are  avid  for  information  on  the  new  ques- 
tions of  local;  State  and  national  government  which 
women  and  men  must  now  decide  together.  They 
are  coming  up  to  these  questions  with  a  vivid  new 
personal  interest  that  bids  fair  to  lift  "civil  govern- 
ment" out  of  the  cold  aloofness  of  academic  discus- 
sion on  the  one  side,  and  the  "mire  of  politics"  on 
the  other.  To  be  bromidic,  women  are  going  to  hu- 
manize questions  of  government.  That  will  not  be, 
I  think,  because  only  to  woman  is  given  the  human 
outlook  on  life,  but  because  the  human  is  composite 
of  men  and  women  and  the  human  in  the  outlook  of 
both  is  stirred  and  developed  through  cooperative 
rather  than  segregated  work. 

As  emergent  voters  the  women  of  America  are  to- 
day facing  the  same  fundamental  questions  as  to  the 
new  responsibility  as  are  the  young  American  man 
of  twenty-one  and  the  immigrant.  The  enfranchise- 
ment of  woman,  the  coming  of  age  of  the  young  man, 
and  the  naturalization  of  the  immigrant — there  you 
have  the  three  agencies  through  which  the  electorate 
of  America  is  to  be  kept  in  a  state  of  inquiry  and 
action  instead  of  in  a  condition  of  acquiescence  and 
being. 

A  prime  difference  in  the  three  cases  is  that  the 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

woman  is  asking  all  the  questions  that  the  other  two 
ought  to  ask  but  do  not.  Of  course  it  would  be  the 
woman  who  would  ask  the  questions.  For  one  thing, 
it  does  not  go  so  hard  with  women  to  admit  their 
ignorance  as  it  does  with  men.  For  another,  woman 
has  had  to  fight  for  suffrage  while  the  young  man  was 
acquiring  it  as  he  acquired  his  moustache,  by  the 
simple  expedient  of  getting  older,  and  the  immigrant 
man  was  acquiring  it  by  the  simple  expedient  of  liv- 
ing in  America  long  enough  to  take  on  some  of  those 
American  ideals  and  commitments  into  which  the 
woman,  if  native,  was  born;  and  having  fought  for 
the  suffrage,  the  fight  has  informed  woman  with  a 
special  sense  of  the  value  in  the  thing  fought  for,  and 
a  special  desire  fully  to  understand  it.  Suffragists 
alone  would  start  the  questions,  but  it  is  not  suffra- 
gists alone  among  women  who  want  the  answers. 
The  antis  mean  to  vote,  the  indifferent  mean  to  vote. 
In  the  result,  texts  on  civil  government  become  at 
one  leap  of  intimate  value.  Instead  of  remote  sum- 
maries of  the  function  of  the  "  judiciary,  the  legisla- 
tive, the  administrative,"  that  of  which  they  treat 
is  identified  as  breakfast  table  talk — the  mayor's  ap- 
pointments, home  rule  for  cities,  what  the  legisla- 
ture is  doing  with  the  child  labor  bill,  what  Wash- 
ington will  do  with  bills  defining  the  authority  of  the 
government  in  its  war  control  of  this,  that,  or  the 


x  INTRODUCTION 

other.  There  is  an  acute  recognition  of  "the  govern- 
ment "  as  a  matter  of  close  contact  and  an  immediate 
intention  to  understand  it  better.  And  conversely, 
from  now  on,  thanks  to  woman's  enfranchisement, 
achieved  or  impending,  it  will  be  necessary  for  the 
government  to  understand  woman  better,  so  that  the 
give-and-take,  the  reflex  from  woman  suffrage  into 
the  body  politic,  and  out  again  upon  the  community, 
may  be  the  better  assimilated. 

WOMAN   SUFFRAGE   A   WAR   MEASURE 

When  the  world  war  began  shaking  the  existing 
ideas  of  government  about,  it  had  the  effect  upon 
them  that  is  produced  by  shaking  a  barrel  of  apples, 
the  little  ones  went  to  the  bottom  and  the  big  ones 
came  to  the  top.  Consider  some  of  the  first  little  ap- 
ples to  go  out  of  sight.  In  Italy  and  in  France  women 
had  distinct  civil  disabilities  such  as  the  necessity  of 
getting  their  husbands'  authorization  before  they 
could  act  in  legal  matters.  These  ideas  have  not  only 
sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the  barrel,  but  have  apparently 
shrunk  to  a  size  which  has  permitted  them  to  fall 
through  cracks  and  disappear.  In  a  cataclysm  which 
has  destroyed  class  distinctions  by  demanding  leader- 
ship from  all  classes,  sex  discrimination  could  no 
longer  endure  in  the  light  of  the  complete  sacrifice 
for  service  shown  by  both  sexes.  In  Italy  and  France 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

municipal  suffrage  is  in  process  of  establishment.  It 
is  urged  by  statesmen  as  much  as  by  woman  suffra- 
gists. In  France  it  is  indeed  a  necessity,  since  in 
many  communities  the  only  people  left  to  protect 
the  standards  of  life  are  loyal  women  who  have 
served  their  country  no  less  ably  than  the  front  line 
soldiers  who  have  given  their  lives  for  France. 

The  fiercest  opponents  of  woman  suffrage  in  Eng- 
land have  demonstrated  no  little  ingenuity  in  their 
lightning  changes  from  adamantine  hostility  to  suf- 
frage to  fervid  acceptance  of  it. 

Democracy  has  become  a  password.  Every  state 
paper  and  suggested  basis  of  peace  drives  home,  as 
with  bayonet  thrusts,  the  basic  fact  that  for  the  word 
democracy,  one  may  now  substitute  the  phrase  "  gov- 
ernment derives  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed. " 

Outside  of  Germany  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a 
statesman  with  the  temerity  to  gainsay  this.  Up  to 
date  Germany  is  the  only  great  country  which  has 
failed  to  grasp  the  fact  that  this  is  the  real  issue  of 
the  war.  Outside  of  Germany  there  are  few  political 
leaders — and  those  few  mainly  men  advanced  in  years 
— who  do  not  now  know  that  women  are  among  the 
"governed."  By  its  recent  Franchise  Reform  Bill, 
Hungary  has  demonstrated  that  the  two  vital  issues, 
"government  by  the  people"  and  "women  are  peo- 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

pie/'  are  recognized  as  fundamental  to  the  life  of 
that  nation. 

WHAT  SHE  DOES  WITH  THE  VOTE  WHEN  SHE  GETS  IT 

In  the  United  States  the  great  suffrage  victories 
of  the  year  1917  have  urged  the  question  on  beyond 
interest  in  its  merits  or  the  abstract  justice  involved 
in  it,  to  the  practical  application  of  it.  Whether 
women  vote  when  they  can ;  what  they  do  with  their 
votes  when  they  get  them;  and  the  effects  of  their 
enfranchisement  upon  home  and  community  are,  for- 
tunately, demonstrable  propositions.  In  every  full 
voting  State  in  which  the  records  are  sufficiently 
complete  to  form  a  basis  of  judgment,  three  things 
have  been  established:  women  register  and  vote  in 
about  the  same  proportion  as  men;  they  show  an  in- 
telligent interest  in  elections,  and  they  double  the 
voting  strength  of  their  states  with  a  comparatively 
small  increase  in  voting  paraphernalia. 

Knowledge  of  the  kinds  of  legislation  attempted 
or  achieved  by  voting  women  likewise  rests  upon 
facts.  The  legislation  accomplished  follows  the  psy- 
chology of  women;  it  follows  the  matters  in  which 
they  are  most  vitally  interested.  If  there  is  truth 
in  the  theory  that  men  and  women  are  different,  it 
clinches  the  absolute  need  for  women  in  political  life. 
In  New  Zealand,  where  women  have  voted  for  twenty- 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

five  years,  the  infant  death  rate  is  lower  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  And  the  New  Zealand  meth- 
ods of  caring  for  the  health  of  women  and  children  are 
cited  as  models  by  authorities.  A  burning  grievance 
of  mothers  for  countless  years  was  the  fact  that  in 
the  eyes  of  the  law  the  children  they  had  borne  did 
not  belong  to  them;  they  belonged  to  the  fathers. 
When  a  controversy  arose  over  the  disposition  of  the 
child,  or  its  religious  education,  or  the  right  to  in- 
herit from  it,  the  advantage  has  always  lain  with  the 
father.  As  soon  as  woman  began  to  emerge  as  a  so- 
cial entity,  even  before  she  had  the  vote,  this  deep 
suffering  of  mothers  found  voice.  For  seventy  years 
mothers  have  struggled  for  an  equal  share  with  fa- 
thers in  the  control  of  their  own  children.  In  almost 
every  full  suffrage  State  in  the  Union  this  matter  has 
received  a  first  consideration  and  equal  guardianship 
obtains  in  every  State  where  women  vote  on  the  same 
terms  as  men.  It  does  not  obtain  to  any  such  extent 
where  fathers  only  vote,  as  only  twenty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  thirty-six  male  suffrage  States  have  this  law. 
The  District  of  Columbia's  equal  guardianship  law  is 
the  result  of  the  hard  work  of  a  woman  lawyer. 

Six  of  the  woman  voting  States  have  secured  an 
eight-hour  day  for  women.  Not  one  male  suffrage 
State  has  done  so.  Sixty-three  per  cent,  of  the  full 
suffrage  States  (New  York  not  included)  have  a  min- 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

imum  wage  law,  less  than  fourteen  per  cent,  of  the 
man-suffrage  States  have  one.  Every  full  suffrage 
State  has  a  mothers'  pension  law.  Ninety  per  cent, 
of  the  full  suffrage  States  (New  York  not  included) 
have  the  injunction  and  abatement  law. 

Recently  the  Chicago  Chief  of  Police  sent  out  a  call 
for  a  woman  protective  police  force  as  a  war  meas- 
ure. Behind  this  recognition  of  the  fact  that  women 
can  be  relied  upon  as  a  rear  guard,  lies  an  interest- 
ing history  of  a  movement  to  use  women  as  police  even 
in  normal  times  of  peace.  This  movement,  both  in 
England  and  the  United  States,  was  initiated  by 
women,  urged  by  women,  and  steadfastly  defeated 
in  America  until  women  got  the  vote.  The  mere 
possession  of  the  franchise  by  the  women  of  Chicago, 
before  they  had  a  chance  to  put  it  in  practice,  acted 
as  a  lever  to  set  the  Chicago  women  police  idea  on 
its  feet.  What  the  women  police  have  meant  in 
time  of  war  is  a  momentous  chapter  not  yet  writ- 
ten. 

Women  voters  in  Illinois,  California,  Colorado, 
Washington,  and  Montana  are  on  record  as  having 
achieved  such  domestic  legislation  as  state-wide  laws 
concerning  food  inspection.  Earl  Barnes  reports 
that  he  has  seen  "  nowhere  else  such  statutes  as  fear- 
lessly and  vigorously  enforced  as  in  Idaho. ' ' 

Montana  is,  next  to  New  York,  one  of  the  youngest 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

children  in  the  suffrage  group.  It  gained  enfran- 
chisement in  1914,  yet  by  1916,  the  first  political 
campaign  in  which  the  women  voters  participated, 
old  political  wheel  horses  were  astonished  at  the  con- 
centration of  effort  and  energy  exhibited  by  the 
whole  woman  electorate  of  Montana.  A  woman  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  who  ran  en- 
tirely upon  her  special  qualifications,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  the  women  because  of  her  fitness,  was 
elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  Other  legis- 
lation worked  for  by  women  in  their  first  campaign  in 
Montana  included  an  eight-hour  day  for  women,  im- 
provements in  the  mothers'  pension  law,  establish- 
ment of  a  child  welfare  division  of  the  Department  of 
Public  Health  and  an  expert  survey  of  the  feeble- 
minded of  the  State.  Colorado 's  Juvenile  Court  Law 
has  been  called  by  the  head  of  the  National  Child 
Labor  Committee  ''one  of  the  best,  if  not  the 
best." 

As  she  has  become  possessed  of  the  vote,  the  female 
of  the  species  has  proved  herself  rather  fundamentally 
averse  to  office- seeking.  The  practice  of  women  in 
full  suffrage  States  has  been  to  occupy  such  public 
positions  as  logically  develop  out  of  their  special 
training.  Women,  who  make  up  eighty  per  cent,  of 
the  teaching  profession  and  who  as  parents  are  vi- 
tally in  touch  with  the  needs  of  childhood,  have  in  all 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

full  suffrage  States  acceptably  filled  local  and  state 
positions  as  superintendents  of  public  instruction  or 
as  members  of  school  boards  or  as  commissioners  of 
Public  Welfare  in  connection  with  the  labor  of  women 
and  children.  In  some  instances  marked  ability  or 
experience  in  these  lines  has  led  them  into  legislative 
positions.  In  full  suffrage  States  the  woman  lawyer 
is  naturally  less  impeded  in  her  advance  from  post 
to  post  in  her  own  profession  than  her  professional 
sister  in  non-suffrage  States.  The  woman  doctor 
mounts  the  rungs  of  her  ladder  less  weighed  down 
with  artificial  burdens.  The  point  in  all  this  is  the 
reassuring  fact  that  the  state  undergoes  no  volcanic 
wrench  when  women  participate  in  its  political 
career.  What  women  are  bound  to  do  anyway, 
whether  because  of  natural  abilities  or  personal  in- 
clinations or  because  of  economic  and  industrial  pres- 
sure, they  do  with  fewer  handicaps  when  they  have 
the  franchise  than  when  they  haven't  it.  Experi- 
ence also  shows  that  the  large  social  movements  by 
which  all  mankind  is  affected  predetermine  these 
matters  for  women  as  well  as  for  men.  When  vast 
numbers  of  women  are  needed  in  industry  they  go 
into  it.  If  such  a  situation  arises,  justice  and  expe- 
diency both  demand  that  women  should  be  protected 
by  their  own  ballots,  not  by  so-called  representative 
ballots,  as  on  the  face  of  it  no  one  ballot  can  be 


INTRODUCTION  xvii      « 

counted  upon  to  express  two  persons'  "consent"  m 
government. 

An  obsession  exists  among  some  men  lest  women 
begin  at  once  to  untie  all  the  neat  packages  into  which 
political  parties  have  tied  their  inherited  traditions. 
A  few  men  are  still  shuddering  lest  women  will  want 
to  revolutionize  banking  legislation,  throw  the  tariff 
overboard  and  run  amuck  amongst  stocks  and  bonds. 
In  the  first  place,  they  never  have  done  anything 
of  the  sort  in  any  State  where  women  vote,  and  in  the 
second  place,  women  are  conservative  spenders.  A  re- 
proach against  them  has  been  their  timidity  in  think- 
ing in  the  gross.  They  have  so  long  thought  in  lit- 
tles. 

NO  SEX   SEGREGATION   IN   POLITICS 

Woman,  the  voter,  disproves  too,  all  along  the  line, 
the  contention  that  there  will  ever  be  a  distinct  wom- 
an's party  in  the  history  of  the  United  States.  Hu- 
man interests  find  few  such  vertical  lines  of  cleavage 
between  the  sexes.  It  is  inconceivable  that  the  thou- 
sands of  homes  in  the  country  could  ever  be  split 
apart  longitudinally.  If  the  extraordinary  injustices 
against  women  permitted  by  men  in  past  generations 
have  never  yet  bred  up  a  group  of  women  combined 
for  attack,  is  it  likely  that,  as  those  grievances  are 
more  and  more  removed  and  men's  and  women's  in- 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

t crests  become  more  and  more  identical,  there  will 
ever  be  a  collective  strife  of  women  against  men  ?  Hu- 
man needs  are  normally  group  needs,  family  needs,  or 
needs  of  industrial  units.  Society  may  split  apart 
in  horizontal  sections  with  whole  groups  of  men  and 
women  on  each  side  of  the  line.  And  when  it  does, 
women  will  be  found  valiant  in  supporting  the  meas- 
ures they  espouse.  But  because  of  the  very  struc- 
ture of  human  society  it  will  never  happen  that 
masses  of  women  will  have  a  desire  to  cohere  in  oppo- 
sition to  masses  of  men.  Nature  and  personal  affec- 
tions would  soon  prove  too  strong  for  such  political 
differentiations.  It  is  together,  as  human  beings,  not 
as  men  and  not  as  women  that  the  voters  of  the  United 
States  are  moving  forward  into  the  new  democracy 
with  its  larger  questions  and  its  finer  and  surer  an- 
swers. 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION  PAGE 

EQUAL  SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES     .                 .  vii 

EQUAL  SUFFRAGE  A  WAR  MEASURE x 

EQUAL  SUFFRAGE  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES x 

EQUAL  SUFFRAGE  LEGISLATION xii 

No  SEX  SEGREGATION  IN  POLITICS xvii 

I 
POPULAR  GOVERNMENT 

THE  UNITED  STATES  A  DEMOCRACY 3 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ....  5 

II 
THE  RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 

CIVIL  RIGHTS  AND  POLITICAL  RIGHTS 8 

THE  CIVIL  RIGHTS  OF  STATE  CITIZENSHIP    ....  10 

THE  CIVIL  RIGHTS  OF  FEDERAL  CITIZENSHIP     ...  12 

THE  DUTIES  OF  CITIZENSHIP 15 

III 
CONGRESS 

REPRESENTATION  IN  CONGRESS 17 

THE  ASSEMBLING  OF  CONGRESS  AND  ITS  ADJOURNMENT  17 

THE  HOUSE  AT  WORK 19 

I     The   Speakership 19 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

II    The  Committees 20 

III     The  Rules 21 

THE  SENATE  AT  WORK 23 

THE  POWERS  OF  CONGRESS 24 

IV 
THE  PRESIDENT  AND  HIS  CABINET 

THE  POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  PRESIDENT        .         .  26 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  SHARE  IN  LAW-MAKING    ....  27 

SUCCESSION  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY 28 

THE  CABINET 29 

V 
FEDERAL  EXECUTIVE  WORK 

THE  DEPARTMENTS 31 

EXECUTIVE  WORK  OUTSIDE  THE  DEPARTMENTS   ...  35 

THE  NATIONAL  CIVIL  SERVICE 35 

SALARIES  OF  PRINCIPAL  FEDERAL  OFFICIALS  ....  36 

VI 
COURTS,  STATE  AND  FEDERAL 

THE  SEVERAL  GRADES  OF  STATE  COURTS 37 

THE  SEVERAL  GRADES  OF  FEDERAL  COURTS    ....     42 

VII 
THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE 

GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  A  STATE  LEGISLATURE  ...  45 

THE  PASSAGE  OF  BILLS 46 

DIRECT    LEGISLATION    (THE    INITIATIVE    AND    REFER- 
ENDUM)      47 

THE  RECALL  .  50 


CONTENTS 

VIII 

THE  STATE  EXECUTIVE  PAGE 

THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS 52 

IX 

COUNTIES,  TOWNS  AND  TOWNSHIPS 

OFFICIALS  OF  A  COUNTY 57 

THE  NEW  ENGLAND  TOWN  MEETING 60 

THE  TOWNSHIP 61 

^ 
X 

MUNICIPALITIES 

VILLAGES 63 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CITIES 64 

I     The  Council  System 64 

II     The  Commission  System 67 

XI 

THE  TERRITORIES  AND  DEPENDENCIES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

How  TERRITORIES  AND  DEPENDENCIES  ARE  GOVERNED    .  70 
TERRITORIES   AND    DEPENDENCIES    ON   THE    AMERICAN 

CONTINENT 71 

I     The  District  of  Columbia 71 

II    Alaska 72 

III  Indian  Reservations  and  National  Parks  73 

IV  The  Panama  Canal  Strip 74 

INSULAR  TERRITORIES  AND  DEPENDENCIES     ....  74 

I    Hawaii 74 

II     Porto  Rico 75 

III  The  Philippine  Islands 77 

IV  Guam  and  Samoa 78 

V     The  Virgin  Islands  78 


CONTENTS 

XII 

PARTY  ORGANIZATION  PAGE 

PERMANENT  PARTY  ORGANIZATION v9 

THE  NOMINATION  OP  CANDIDATES 79 

PARTY  CONVENTIONS 81 

I     The  Primary  or  Caucus 81 

II     The  County  (or  City)  Convention     .      .  82 

III  The  State  Convention 82 

IV  The  National  Convention 83 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN 84 

THE  ELECTION  OP  THE  PRESIDENT 84 

XIII 
POLITICAL  PARTY  PLATFORMS 

POLITICAL  PARTIES  Now  IN  EXISTENCE 86 

PARTY  PRINCIPLES 87 

I     Democratic  Platform 87 

II    Republican  Platform          89 

III  Socialist  Platform 90 

IV  Prohibition  Platform 93 

XIV 
INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS 

INTERNATIONAL  AFFAIRS  REGULATED  BY  THE  FEDERAL 

GOVERNMENT 94 

AMBASSADORS,  MINISTERS  AND  CONSULS 95 

TREATIES 96 

ARBITRATION 98 

XV 
TAXATION 

THE  DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  TAXES 101 

NATIONAL  EXPENDITURES                                                .  105 


CONTENTS 

XVI 

PUBLIC  FINANCE  PAGE 

FEDERAL  TAXATION 106 

STATE  TAXATION 108 

THE  COLLECTION  OP  STATE  TAXES Ill 

XVII 
MONEY 

GOLD  AND  SILVER  COINAGE 115 

PAPER  CURRENCY 117 

NATIONAL  BANKS 118 

FEDERAL  RESERVE  BANKS 119 

XVIII 

COMMERCE 

FOREIGN  COMMERCE 123 

I     The  Tariff,  Free  Trade  and  Protection     .  123 

II     The  Regulation  of  Immigration    .      .      .  124 

INTERSTATE  COMMERCE 126 

I     Interstate  Commerce  Defined  ....  126 

II     The  Regulation  of  Interstate  Commerce  127 

III    The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission     .  127 

XIX 

CORPORATIONS 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  CORPORATE  INDUSTRY     .     .     .     .130 

I    Individual  Enterprise 130 

II     The  Partnership 131 

III     The  Corporation 131 

CORPORATIONS  CREATED  BY  STATE  AUTHORITY    .     .     .  133 
CORPORATE  COMBINATIONS  (TRUSTS)  .     .     .     .     .     .  133 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

APPENDIX   A.    THE    CONSTITUTION    OP   THE    UNITED 

STATES 137 

APPENDIX  B.    NEW  YORK  STATE  ELECTION  LAWS    .  171 

I    General  Election 1.71 

II     Qualifications  of  Voters 172 

III  Registration  of  Voters 172 

IV  Official  Primary  Elections 173 

V    Party  Enrollment 173 

VI  Casting  a  Vote 174 

VII  Time  Allowed  an  Employee  to  Vote  .      .175 

VIII  Party  Committees 175 

IX  Designation  of  Candidates       ....  175 


THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S 
MANUAL 


THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S 

MANUAL 


CHAPTER  I 

POPULAR   GOVERNMENT 

A  GOVERNMENT  which  receives  its  powers  from  the 
people  is  a  democratic  or  popular  government,  and  a 
state  in  which  popular  government  prevails  is  a  de- 
mocracy. The  United  States  is  a  democracy,  for  here 
political  power  everywhere  flows  from  the  people. 
The  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Congress,  and 
the  national  Supreme  Court,  all  receive  their  powers 
from  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  this 
Constitution  is  a  creation  of  the  people  (I)1  of  the 
United  States ;  the  government  of  a  State  2  receives  its 
powers  from  the  people  of  the  State ;  a  city  or  a  town 
or  a  county  is  governed  by  the  people  who  reside 
within  its  borders.  Thus  in  the  United  States  the 
will  of  the  people  prevails  not  only  in  the  country 
taken  as  a  whole  but  in  all  its  parts  as  well.  This  is 

1  The  numbers  in  heavy-faced  type  refer  to  passages  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States    (Appendix  A)    which  are 
distinguished  by  corresponding  numbers  on  the  margin. 

2  In  this  book  when  the  word  "state"  begins  with  a  capital 
letter  one  of  the  members  of  the  American  Union  is  meant. 

3 


4.:  '.      THE  .WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

the  fundairorital  principle  of  the  American  govern- 
ment. 

A  popular  government  may  have  the  form  either  of 
a  pure  democracy  or  of  a  representative  government. 
In  a  pure  democracy  the  voters  transact  the  business 
of  government  in  person;  they  not  only  choose  the 
officers  of  government  but  they  enact  laws  as  well.  A 
representative  government  is  a  popular  government 
in  which  power  is  exercised  by  chosen  agents  (repre- 
sentatives) of  the  people,  instead  of  being  exercised 
directly  by  the  people.  A  country  which  is  governed 
by  representatives  elected  by  the  people  is  a  repre- 
sentative democracy  or  republic.  In  a  representative 
democracy  the  people  rule  no  less  than  in  a  pure  de- 
mocracy, but  they  rule  indirectly. 

The  United  States  is  a  representative  democracy. 
Our  President  and  our  governors  and  mayors  and,  in 
most  instances,  our  judges,  are  chosen  agents  of  the 
people.  The  officers  of  government  who  are  not  di- 
rectly elected  by  the  people  are  appointed  by  direct 
representatives,  and  are  thus  not  far  removed  from 
the  voters. 

The  people  of  a  free  state  will  not  confer  all  the 
power  of  government  upon  one  person,  or  upon  one 
body  of  persons.  Experience  has  taught  that  it  is 
better  to  divide  governmental  power  into  three  por- 
tions, and  to  establish  three  departments  of  govern- 
ment, allotting  to  each  department  its  own  peculiar 
portion.  The  three  departments  of  a  popular  govern- 
ment are:  (1)  The  legislative  department,  upon 
which  is  conferred  the  power  of  making  laws;  (2) 


POPULAR  GOVERNMENT  5 

the  judicial  department,  which  is  entrusted  with  the 
power  of  deciding  how  the  law  shall  apply  in  par- 
ticular cases  when  disputes  arise;  (3)  the  executive 
department,  which  is  vested  with  the  power  of  en- 
forcing laws. 

A  government  may  be  democratic  in  form  and 
spirit,  it  may  be  thoroughly  representative,  it  may 
have  the  three  branches  clearly  separated,  and  still 
there  may  be  no  guarantee  that  civil  liberty  will  be 
permanently  enjoyed.  For  officers  of  government  are 
liable  to  abuse  power,  or  to  choose  a  wrong  or  unjust 
course  of  action.  Americans  have  been  taught  by  ex- 
perience that  rights  may  be  safeguarded  and  civil 
liberty  preserved  by  imposing  upon  themselves  a 
fundamental  law  in  the  form  of  a  written  constitu- 
tion. 

The  fundamental  law  of  our  country,  taken  as  a 
whole,  is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Each 
State  also  has  a  constitution  which  it  has  framed  for 
itself.  Government  in  America,  therefore,  is  every- 
where conducted  according  to  the  written  word;  it  is 
everywhere  constitutional. 

The  first  American  constitutions  were  promulgated 
in  the  name  of  the  people,  yet  they  were  not  as  a 
rule  the  direct  creations  of  the  people.  The  statesmen 
who  framed  them  did  not  have  a  very  strong  faith 
in  the  wisdom  of  the  people,  and  were  not  quite  will- 
ing to  submit  a  fundamental  law  to  a  popular  vote. 
As  democracy  grew  more  fashionable,  and  as  the  peo- 
ple came  to  be  more  fully  recognized  as  the  real  mas- 
ters of  government,  the  custom  of  submitting  consti- 


6     THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

tutions  to  voters  for  their  approval  became  general. 
At  the  present  time  a  constitution  is  usually  ratified 
by  the  people  at  the  polls  before  it  is  put  into  opera- 
tion. This  popular  ratification  clothes  the  constitu- 
tion with  all  the  authority  that  a  law  can  possibly 
have,  for  it  is  a  law  passed  by  the  people  themselves 
acting  as  legislators.  A  constitution,  therefore,  is  a 
solemn  and  deliberate  expression  of  the  popular  will, 
and  as  such  it  is  a  fixed,  permanent  law  which  all 
citizens  and  all  officers  of  government  must  obey. 

Although  a  constitution  is  a  fixed  law,  it  may  not 
remain  unchanged  forever.  A  provision  in  a  consti- 
tution which  was  wise  and  just  fifty  years  ago  may 
be  harmful  now.  Every  constitution  recognizes  this 
fact,  and  provides  for  making  changes,  when  these 
may  seem  necessary.  These  changes  or  amendments 
are  effected  in  various  ways,  the  usual  procedure  be- 
ing as  follows:  the  amendment  that  is  thought  to  be 
desirable  first  passes  the  legislature  of  the  State  and 
is  then  submitted  to  the  people  for  their  approval. 
If  it  receives  the  required  number  of  votes — fre- 
quently a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast — it  becomes 
a  part  of  the  constitution  and  cannot  be  repealed  by 
the  legislature. 

Constitutions  provide  not  only  for  their  own  amend- 
ment, but  also  for  their  own  complete  revision.  They 
provide  for  the  calling  of  a  constitutional  convention, 
which  shall  have  power  to  revise  the  old  constitution 
and  frame  a  new  one.  A  general  revision  of  a  State 
constitution  is  usually  accomplished  in  the  following 
way :  The  legislature  submits  to  the  people  the  ques- 


POPULAR  GOVERNMENT  7 

tion  whether  or  not  a  convention  shall  be  called  to 
frame  a  new  constitution.  In  several  States  this  ques- 
tion must  be  submitted  to  the  voters  every  twenty 
years ;  in  Michigan  it  must  be  submitted  every  sixteen 
years ;  in  Iowa  every  ten  years.  If  the  vote  is  in  fa- 
vor of  a  convention,  delegates  are  elected,  and  the 
work  of  revision  begins.  It  is  the  custom  to  submit 
the  revised  constitution  to  the  people  for  their  ap- 
proval, although  this  is  not  always  done. 

There  are  four  processes  by  which  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  may  be  amended.  These  are: 
(1)  and  (2)  Congress,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both 
houses,  may  submit  an  amendment  to  the  States  for 
ratification  (122)  and  if  the  amendment  thus  sub- 
mitted is  ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  three-fourths 
of  the  States,  or  by  Conventions  in  three-fourths  of 
the  States,  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  Constitution;  (3) 
and  (4)  a  national  Constitutional  Convention,  called 
by  Congress  upon  the  application  of  the  legislatures 
of  two-thirds  of  the  States,  may  submit  an  amend- 
ment to  the  States  for  ratification  and  if  the  amend- 
ment thus  submitted  is  ratified  by  the  legislatures 
of  three-fourths  of  the  States,  or  by  Conventions  in 
three-fourths  of  the  States,  it  becomes  a  part  of  the 
Constitution  (123). 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   RIGHTS  OF    CITIZENSHIP 

THE  rights  flowing  from  American  civil  liberty 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  civil  rights  and 
political  rights.  Civil  rights  are  those  which  a  person 
enjoys  as  a  private  citizen,  as  an  individual.  They 
are  enjoyed  under  the  authority  and  sanction  of  gov- 
ernment, but  they  are  not  related  to  the  subject  of 
government.  Political  rights  are  those  which  belong 
to  a  citizen  regarded  as  a  participator  in  the  affairs 
of  government:  they  may  be  called  the  public  rights 
of  citizenship. 

The  fourteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  de- 
clares that  "all  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the 
United  States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof 
are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State 
wherein  they  reside."  Under  this  definition  the  fol- 
lowing have  been  adjudged  to  be  citizens  of  the  United 
States : 

(1)  All  persons  born  in  the  United  States  except- 
ing the  children  of  diplomatic  agents  and  of  hostile 
aliens. 

(2)  Children  born  in  foreign  countries  whose  par- 
ents at  the  time  of  their  birth  were  citizens  of  the 

United  States. 

8 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  9 

(3)  Women  of  foreign  birth  married  to  citizens  of 
the  United  States. 

(4)  Indians  who  pay  taxes  and  no  longer  live  in 
tribal  relations. 

(5)  Naturalized  persons.     The  process  of  natural- 
ization is  as  follows :     At  least  two  years  before  he 
can  be  admitted  as  a  citizen  the  alien  must  appear 
before  a  State  or  a  federal  court  and  take  an  oath  that 
it  is  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  and  "to  renounce  forever  all  allegiance  and 
fidelity  to  any  foreign  prince  or  state  and  particularly 
to  the  one  of  which  he  may  at  the  time  be  a  citizen  or 
subject."     He  must  also  swear  to  support  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United   States.     Not  less  than  two 
years  nor  more  than  seven  years  after  this  declaration 
of  his  intentions  the  alien  may  apply  to  a  federal  or 
State  court  for  full  admission  as  a  citizen.     If  the 
judge  of  the  court  is  satisfied  that  the  alien  is  able  to 
speak  the  English  language  and  write  his  own  name, 
that  he  has  resided  in  the  United  States  for  five  years, 
and  that  he  is  a  person  of  good  moral  character,  full 
citizenship  will  be  conferred.     A  person  thus  natural- 
ized has  the  same  rights  as  native  born  citizens  of  the 
United  States  except  that  he  cannot  become  the  Presi- 
dent or  Vice-President  of  the   United   States    (86). 
The  children  of  naturalized  persons  are  considered 
as  citizens  if  they  were  under  twenty-one  years  of  age 
and  were  dwelling  in  the  United  States  at  the  time  of 
the  naturalization  of  their  parents.     Alien   Chinese 
and  Japanese  are  not  entitled  to  be  naturalized.     Per- 
sons professing  the  doctrines  of  anarchy  and  openly 


10         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

opposing  all  form  of  organized  government  are  also 
refused  the  gift  of  naturalization. 

The  rights  of  American  citizenship  flow  from  two 
sources,  from  the  State  and  from  the  nation.  Since 
each  State  in  a  large  measure  determines  for  itself 
the  character  of  the  civil  liberty  that  is  to  be  enjoyed 
within  its  borders,  the  rights  of  an  American  citizen 
are  not  everywhere  the  same.  As  we  travel  through 
the  States  our  rights  change  every  time  we  pass  from 
one  State  into  another.  When  the  citizen  of  one 
State  enters  another  State  he  has  the  rights  of  the 
citizens  of  that  State  (116),  and  those  rights  only. 
There  are,  however,  certain  civil  rights  which  are  en- 
joyed in  every  State  in  the  Union  and  which  may  be 
called  the  civil  rights  of  State  citizenship.  These  are 
the  rights  guaranteed  in  the  State  constitutions.  In 
the  constitution  of  almost  every  State  it  is  declared : 

(1)  That  all  men  have  the  right  of  enjoying  and 
defending  life  and  liberty,  of  acquiring,  possessing 
and  protecting  property  and  reputation,  and  of  pur- 
suing their  own  happiness; 

(2)  That  men  have  a  right  to  worship  God  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience,  and  that 
no  preference  by  law  should  be  given  to  any  religion, 
and  that  no  person  should  be  disqualified  for  office 
on  account  of  his  religious  belief ; 

(3)  That  trial  by  jury  is  a  right  inviolate; 

(4)  That  the  printing-press  shall  be  free,  and  that 
every  citizen  may  freely  print,  write  and  speak  on 
any  subject,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  this 
privilege : 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  11 

(5)  That  people  shall  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
houses,  papers  and  possessions  against  unreasonable 
searches  and  seizures,  and  that  no  warrant  to  search 
any  place  or  seize  any  person  shall  issue  without  prob- 
able cause: 

(6)  That  in  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused 
has  a  right  to  be  heard  by  himself  and  his  counsel,  to 
meet  witnesses  face  to  face,  to  compel  witnesses  who 
are  in  favor  to  come  to  court  and  testify,  and  to  a 
speedy  trial  by  an  impartial  jury: 

(7)  That  no  person  can  be  compelled  to  give  evi- 
dence against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  his  life, 
liberty  or  property  unless  by  the  law  of  the  land : 

(8)  That  no  person  for  the  same  offense  shall  be 
twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  and  limb: 

(9)  That  all  courts  shall  be  open  and  that  every 
man  shall  have  justice  without  sale,  denial  or  delay: 

(10)  That  excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor 
excessive  fines  be  imposed,  nor  cruel  punishment  in- 
flicted : 

(11)  That  all  prisoners  shall  be  bailable  by  suffi- 
cient sureties,  unless  for  capital  offenses: 

(12)  That  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be 
suspended  unless  in  time  of  rebellion  or  invasion. 
Whenever  a  man  is  placed  in  confinement  against  his 
will  and  the  fact  is  made  known  to  a  judge  of  a  court, 
the  judge,  unless  he  knows  the  confinement  is  legal, 
is  bound,  upon  application,  to  issue  immediately  a 
writ,  called  habeas  corpus,  commanding  the  prisoner 
to  be  brought  before  him  for  examination.     If  there 
seems  to  be  cause  for  the  detention  of  the  prisoner 


12         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

he  is  sent  back  to  prison  to  await  a  full  trial ;  if  there 
seems  to  be  no  cause  he  is  set  free : 

(13)  That  there  shall  be  no  imprisonment  for  debt, 
unless  in  cases  of  fraud: 

(14)  That  citizens  have  a  right  to  assemble  in  a 
peaceable  manner  and  to  apply  to  the  rulers  for  a 
redress  of  grievances : 

(15)  That  the  military  shall  at  all  times  be  kept  in 
strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power : 

(16)  That  no  soldier  in  time  of  peace  shall  be  quar- 
tered in  any  house  without  the  consent  of  the  owner. 

The  first  section  of  the  fourteenth  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  (150)  creates  a  distinct  federal  citizen- 
ship, and  provides  that  no  State  shall  abridge  the 
privileges  of  that  citizenship.  What  are  the  priv- 
ileges which  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  enjoys  and 
which  no  State  can  abridge? 

At  present  it  is  possible  to  enumerate  the  following 
as  the  rights  of  federal  citizenship, — rights  which  flow 
from  the  Constitution,  which  belong  to  every  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  and  which  cannot  be  denied  by 
State  authority : 

I.  Due  Process  of  Law.  No  person  in  the  United 
States  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  property 
without  due  process  of  law.  Here  is  a  right  which 
no  State  can  abridge  (151)  and  which  the  federal 
government  itself  cannot  deny  (152).  A  person 
seeking  justice,  whether  in  civil  or  criminal  cases,  un- 
der his  right  of  due  process  may  demand  (1)  that 
there  be  a  court  of  law  for  the  trial  of  his  case;  (2) 
that  the  proceedings  of  the  trial  be  regular;  (3)  that 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  13 

the  trial  be  fair.  What  the  regular  course  of  pro- 
cedure in  a  State  court  shall  be  is  a  matter  for  the 
State  itself  to  determine ;  but  after  the  State  has  once 
decided  upon  the  course  that  justice  shall  take,  after 
it  has  once  established  the  processes  of  law,  it  cannot 
deprive  any  person  of  the  benefits  that  arise  from 
those  processes. 

II.  Equal  Protection  of  the  Laws.     "  Every  per- 
son within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  State,  whether  he 
be  rich  or  poor,  humble  or  haughty,  citizen  or  alien, 
is  assured  of  the  protection  of  equal  laws  (152) — ap- 
plicable to  all  alike  and  impartially  administered  with- 
out favor  or  discrimination."     (Guthrie.) 

III.  Protection  on  the  High  Seas  and  in  Foreign 
Countries.    A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  in  what- 
ever part  of  the  world  he  may  be,  is  entitled  to  pro- 
tection against  injustice  or  injury,  and  this  protection 
is  a  right  of  federal  citizenship,  and  is  extended  by 
the  federal  government. 

IV.  State     Citizenship.     Every     citizen     of     the 
United  States  has  a  right  to  become  a  citizen  of  a 
State  by  a  bona  fide  residence  therein,  and  as  a  citi- 
zen of  the  State  he  has  all  that  large  body  of  rights 
which  always  belongs  to  State  citizenship. 

We  now  come  to  the  subject  of  political  rights  as 
distinguished  from  civil  rights. 

Political  rights  invest  the  citizen  with  the  privilege 
of  participating  in  government,  and  consist  of  the 
right  of  voting  at  elections  and  of  holding  public  of- 
fice. These  rights  are  an  outgrowth  of  the  struggle 
for  civil  rights. 


4-' 


14         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

Authority  for  granting  the  suffrage  and  defining 
the  qualifications  of  voters  resides  chiefly  in  the  State. 
The  only  restriction  upon  the  power  of  the  State  to 
regulate  the  elective  franchise  is  found  in  the  fifteenth 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  where  it  is  declared 
that  the  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  abridged  by  any  State  on  account  of  race, 
color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude  (159).  As 
long  as  the  State  does  not  violate  this  amendment  it 
is  free  to  regulate  the  suffrage  in  its  own  way. 

When  we  observe  how  widely  the  political  condi- 
tions in  one  State  differ  from  those  in  another,  and 
consider  how  great  is  the  opportunity  for  a  variety 
of  regulations  in  reference  to  voting,  the  laws  gov- 
erning the  suffrage  throughout  the  Union  seem  to  be 
remarkably  uniform.  This  uniformity  is  due  in  part 
to  democratic  spirit  of  equality,  and  in  part  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  amendments. 

In  all  the  States  the  age  qualification  for  voting  is 
twenty-one  years;  in  all  the  States  a  previous  resi- 
dence within  the  State  varying  from  six  months  to 
two  years  is  required;  in  thirty-eight  States  a  voter 
must  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States;  in  ten  States 
aliens  may  vote ;  in  all  the  States  but  nine  there  is  an 
absence  of  anything  like  an  educational  qualification. 
In  all  the  States  certain  classes  of  persons  are  ex- 
cluded from  the  privilege  of  voting.  Chief  among 
these  are  lunatics,  idiots,  paupers  and  convict  crim- 
inals. 

The  right  of  holding  office  is  more  indefinite  than 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  15 

the  right  of  suffrage.     It  may  be  stated  as  a  general 
rule  that  any  one  who  may  vote  is  qualified  to  hold 
office.     Qualifications  for  the  occupants  of  most  of- 
fices are  prescribed  by  law,  and  these  of  course  must 
be  met.     When  there  are  no  special  legal  qualifica- 
tions attached  to  an  office  it  may  usually  be  held  by 
any  one  who  can  get  himself  elected  or  appointed  to 
it.     A  person  who,  as  a  State  official,  has  taken  an 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  who  has  afterwards  joined  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States  is  debarred  from  holding  office  (155). 
The  American  voter  should  regard  himself  as  an 
officer  of  government.     He  is  one  of  the  members  of 
the  electorate,  that  vast  governing  body  which  con- 
sists of  all  the  voters,  and  which  possesses  supreme 
political  power,  controlling  all  the  governments,  fed- 
eral and  State  and  local.     This  electorate  has  in  its 
.keeping  the  welfare  and  the  happiness  of  the  Amer- 
ican people.    When,   therefore,  the  voter  takes  his 
place  in  this  governing  body,  that  is,  when  he  enters 
the  polling-booth  and  presumes  to  participate  in  the 
business  of  government,  he  assumes  serious  responsi- 
bilities.    In  the  polling-booth  he  is  a  public  officer 
charged  with  certain  duties,  and  if  he  fails  to  dis- 
charge these  duties  properly  he  may  work  great  in- 
jury.   What  are  the  duties  of  a  voter  in  a  self-govern- 
ing country?     If  an  intelligent  man  will  ask  himself 
this  question  and  refer  it  to  his  conscience,  as  well 
as  deliberate  upon  it  in  his  mind,  he  will  conclude 
that  he  ought  at  least  to  do  the  following  things : 


16         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

(1)  To  vote  whenever  it  is  his  privilege. 

(2)  To  try  to  understand  the  questions  upon  which 
he  votes. 

(3)  To  learn  something  about  the  character  and 
fitness  of  the  men  for  whom  he  votes. 

(4)  To  vote  only  for  honest  men  for  office. 

(5)  To  support  only  honest  measures. 

(6)  To  give  no  bribe  direct  or  indirect,  and  to  re- 
ceive no  bribe  direct  or  indirect. 

(7)  To  place  country  above  party. 

(8)  To  recognize  the  result  of  the  election  as  the 
will  of  the  people  and  therefore  as  the  law. 

(9)  To  continue  to  vote  for  a  righteous  although 
defeated  cause  as  long  as  there  is  a  reasonable  hope 
of  victory. 


CHAPTER  III 

CONGRESS 

THE  most  important  department  of  the  United 
States  government  when  considered  as  a  representa- 
tive democracy  is  Congress,  with  its  two  houses — the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives — chosen  di- 
rectly by  the  people  and  answerable  to  them  alone  for 
its  acts.  Each  State  is  represented  in  the  Senate  by 
two  senators,  making  96  in  all.  A  candidate  for  sen- 
ator must  be  at  least  30  years  old,  have  been  nine  years 
a  resident  of  the  United  States  and  must  be  a  resi- 
dent of  the  State  he  represents.  The  senators  for 
each  State  are  elected  by  all  the  voters  of  the  State. 
The  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  are 
elected  one  from  each  of  the  congressional  districts 
into  which  a  State  is  divided  for  purposes  of  repre- 
sentation. The  basis  for  representation  is  one  mem- 
ber for  each  211,877  of  the  population,  making  435 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  A  candi- 
date for  representative  must  be  at  least  25  years  old, 
must  have  been  for  seven  years  a  resident  of  the 
United  States,  and  must  be  a  resident  of  the  State  in 
which  he  is  elected. 

Every  year  on  the  first  Monday  in  December  (25) 
Congress  assembles  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  the 
Senate  occupying  the  north  wing  of  the  building  and 

17 


18         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

the  House  the  south  wing.  It  convenes  and  adjourns 
by  virtue  of  constitutional  authority,  and  not  by  vir- 
ture  of  a  summons  or  an  order  from  the  executive 
(25). 

The  President,  however,  may  on  extraordinary  oc- 
casions convene  Congress  in  an  extra  session  (100), 
and  he  may  also  adjourn  Congress  if  the  two  Houses 
cannot  themselves  agree  upon  a  day  for  adjournment 
(101). 

A  majority  of  the  members  of  each  house  consti- 
tutes the  quorum  necessary  for  the  transaction  of 
business.  When  making  laws  the  two  Houses  must 
carry  on  work  during  the  same  period  of  time,  al- 
though either  House  may  sit  alone  for  a  period  not 
exceeding  three  days  (31). 

The  first  Congress  began  its  legal  existence  March 
4,  1789,  and  expired  at  the  hour  of  noon  March  4, 
1791,  when  the  term  of  the  first  elected  representa- 
tives ended;  the  second  Congress  came  into  power 
March  4,  1791,  and  ended  its  career  March  4,  1793; 
the  third  Congress  began  March  4,  1793,  and  ended 
March  4,  1795;  and  thus  on  to  the  present  time. 
From  this  we  learn  (1)  that  Congresses  are  numbered 
according  to  the  biennial  periods  for  which  repre- 
sentatives are  elected,  and  (2)  that  the  legal  exist- 
ence of  Congress  begins  on  March  4  following  the 
election  of  representatives  and  ends  March  4,  two 
years  later.  Representatives  are  elected  in  November 
— except  that  in  Maine  and  Vermont,  they  are  elected 
in  September — but,  unless  an  extra  session  is  called, 
they  do  not  actually  enter  upon  their  duties  until  the 


CONGRESS  19 

December  of  the  first  year  of  their  legal  term — more 
than  a  year  after  their  election.  If  a  Congress  should 
choose  to  do  so,  it  could  sit  in  continuous  session  from 
the  time  it  first  meets  to  the  expiration  of  its  term. 
In  practice  the  work  of  a  Congress  is  done  in  two 
regular  sessions.  The  first  session  begins  when  a 
Congress  assembles  in  December  for  the  first  time 
and  ends  late  in  the  spring  or  early  in  the  summer  of 
the  following  year.  This  is  the  long  session.  The 
second  or  short  session  begins  when  the  Congress  as- 
sembles in  December  for  the  second  time  and  ends 
at  twelve  o'clock  meridian  the  following  March  4. 
Extra  sessions  begin  on  a  date  fixed  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  end  at  the  pleasure  of  Congress. 

In  the  first  few  days  after  the  assembling  of  the 
House  several  thousand  bills  are  introduced.  The 
introduction  of  a  bill  in  the  House  is  a  very  easy  mat- 
ter; the  bill  is  not  presented  in  the  open  House  but 
is  quietly  placed  in  a  receptacle — in  the  "hopper" — 
from  which  it  is  taken  by  a  clerk  and  filed.  But  every 
bill  before  it  can  become  a  law  must  be  taken  up  in 
the  open  House  and  be  duly  discussed  and  disposed 
of  in  an  orderly  decent  way.  How  is  this  done? 
How  amid  the  stormy  conflicts  of  interest  which  are 
bound  to  arise  in  the  House,  and  in  the  confusion  and 
strife  which  are  attendant  upon  the  proceedings  of 
such  a  large  body,  can  business  be  conducted  in  due 
form  and  order?  The  answer  to  this  question  in- 
volves the  consideration  of  (1)  the  speakership,  (2) 
the  committee  system,  and  (3)  the  rules  of  the  House. 

I.     The  Speakership.    When  the  members  of  a  new 


20         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

House  assemble  for  the  first  time  the  clerk  of  the 
previous  House  calls  them  to  order,  causes  a  roll  to 
be  called,  and,  if  a  quorum  (27)  is  present,  invites 
the  House  to  proceed  with  the  election  of  a  Speaker 
(13)  who  is.  always  chosen  from  among  the  repre- 
sentatives. After  the  election  of  the  Speaker  the 
other  officers  of  the  House  (14),  the  sergeant-at-arms, 
the  clerk  and  the  doorkeeper  are  elected,  and  the  work 
of  the  session  begins. 

The  character  of  the  proceedings  of  the  House  de- 
pends largely  upon  the  firmness  and  fairness  of  the 
Speaker.  The  duties  of  the  Speaker  are  defined  by 
the  rules  of  the  House.  He  preserves  order,  he  puts 
questions  to  the  House  to  be  voted  upon,  he  decides 
questions  of  parliamentary  law,  and  above  all,  he  de- 
cides which  member  is  entitled  to  be  heard  upon  the 
floor.  No  member  may  speak  or  make  a  motion  un- 
less he  has  first  been  recognized  by  the  Speaker. 

IT.  The  Committees.  A  large  legislative  body  in 
full  and  open  session  cannot  look  into  the  merits  and 
discuss  all  the  items  of  every  proposed  bill.  There 
must  be  a  method  of  sifting  proposed  measures  and 
rejecting  worthless  and  absurd  propositions  so  that 
the  attention  of  the  legislature  may  be  given  to  seri- 
ous and  important  matters.  From  time  immemorial 
this  preparation  of  measures  has  been  accomplished 
through  the  agency  of  committees,  small  groups  of 
members,  to  each  of  which  is  assigned  the  duty  of 
attending  to  a  particular  branch  of  legislation.  The 
more  important  committees  of  the  House  consist  of 
from  fifteen  to  twenty-one  members.  The  principal 


CONGRESS  23 

standing  committees — committees  which  are  provided 
for  by  the  rules,  and  which  continue  in  existence 
through  the  entire  session — are  those  on  ways  and 
means,  rules,  appropriations,  the  judiciary,  foreign 
relations,  currency,  commerce,  pensions,  military  af- 
fairs, naval  affairs,  elections,  manufactures,  agricul- 
ture, public  lands,  and  rivers  and  harbors.  The  com- 
mittees are  elected  by  the  House  but  the  membership 
of  each  committee  is  determined  by  party  action  be- 
fore the  vote  in  the  House  is  taken. 

The  work  of  the  House  is  effected  through  the  com- 
mittees. When  a  bill  is  introduced  it  finds  its  way 
to  the  appropriate  committee.  Friends  of  the  bill 
may  appear  before  the  committee  and  speak  in  its 
behalf.  The  committee  may  amend  the  bill,  or  reject 
it  outright,  or  pay  no  attention  to  it  whatever.  If  a 
bill  is  rejected  in  committee,  it  has  little  chance  of 
becoming  a  law.  If  it  is  reported  favorably  to  the 
House,  it  has  a  chance  at  least  of  receiving  serious 
consideration.  A  committee,  besides  reporting  upon 
measures  that  have  been  referred  to  it,  may  report 
bills  originating  with  itself.  In  practice,  before  a  bill 
can  become  a  law  it  must  first  receive  the  favorable 
judgment  of  a  committee. 

III.  The  Rules.  When  a  bill  is  reported  favor- 
ably by  a  committee  it  is  usually  placed  upon  the  cal- 
endar along  with  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  of 
other  bills.  By  a  majority  vote  of  the  entire  mem- 
bership of  the  House  a  bill  may  be  taken  from  a  com- 
mittee, and  placed  upon  the  calendar  without  waiting 
for  the  action  of  the  committee.  This  can  be  done, 


22         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

however,  only  after  the  committee  has  for  fifteen  days 
failed  to  take  action  upon  the  bill.  The  calendar  is 
a  kind  of  catalogue  or  register  of  bills,  and  has  been 
called  "the  cemetery  of  legislative  hopes/'  because 
so  many  bills  are  never  heard  of  again  after  they  reach 
it.  When  a  bill  has  found  its  way  to  the  calendar 
its  fate  henceforth  rests  with  the  rules  of  the  House. 
The  rules  of  procedure  are  determined  by  the  House 
itself  (28),  and  are  framed  with  a  view  of  conduct- 
ing business  in  a  fair  and  orderly  manner.  The  gen- 
eral rule  in  reference  to  a  bill  on  the  calendar  is  that 
it  must  wait  its  turn  for  consideration,  a  rule  which 
if  strongly  enforced  might  postpone  action  indef- 
initely. The  real  agency  which  can  determine  what 
bill  shall  be  taken  from  the  calendar  and  which  in 
fact  largely  guides  the  entire  proceedings  of  the 
House  is  the  committee  on  rules.  This  committee, 
like  the  other  committees,  is  elected  by  the  House  and 
consists  of  eleven  members.  The  Speaker  is  not  per- 
mitted to  be  a  member  of  the  committee.  The  com- 
mittee on  rules  has  the  high  privilege  of  bringing  in 
a  "special  rule"  or  order,  by  which  a  certain  time 
may  be  appointed  for  the  consideration  of  a  bill.  It 
can  thus  at  any  time,  without  discussion  or  delay, 
order  any  bill  to  be  taken  from  the  calendar  for  im- 
mediate consideration.  This  committee  on  rules  can 
also  determine  the  conditions  of  debate,  how  long 
members  may  speak,  whether  amendments  to  the  bill 
may  be  offered  or  not,  when  a  vote  shall  be  taken. 
The  first  of  the  committees,  therefore,  is  the  commit- 


CONGRESS  23 

tee  on  rales,  and  the  first  of  the  rules  is  the  "special 
rule." 

When  a  Congress  expires  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  retain  their  seats  in  the  next  Con- 
gress (16).  The  Senate  is  thus  in  part  a  continuous 
body;  "always  changing  it  is  forever  the  same."  It 
is  not  reorganized  at  the  opening  of  every  Congress. 
The  vice-President  is  the  permanent  presiding  offi- 
cer. A  temporary  President  (21),  chosen  by  the 
Senate  from  among  its  members,  holds  office  for  an 
undefinite  period  and  takes  the  place  of  the  permanent 
presiding  officer  during  his  absence.  The  committees 
of  the  Senate  are  elected  by  the  Senate  itself,  although 
before  the  vote  is  taken  the  membership  of  each  com- 
mittee is  previously  determined  by  party  action. 

In  both  Senate  and  House  each  of  the  leading 
political  parties  elects  a  floor  leader,  whose  special 
duty  is  to  direct  and  manage  for  his  party  the  debates 
on  important  measures.  The  floor  leader  when  ad- 
vocating the  passage  of  a  measure  sees  that  the  bill 
is  written  in  the  most  acceptable  form,  safeguards  it 
from  the  dangers  of  parliamentary  procedure,  ar- 
ranges the  list  of  members  who  are  to  speak  in  its  be- 
half, and  allots  to  each  speaker  the  time  to  be  con- 
sumed. Frequently  before  a  bill  is  brought  upon  the 
floor  to  be  voted  upon  a  caucus,  or  private  conference, 
of  the  members  of  each  party  is  held,  and  it  is  deter- 
mined what  the  action  of  the  party  in  respect  to  the 
proposed  measure  shall  be.  As  a  rule,  all  the  mem- 
bers who  attend  a  caucus  vote  on  the  bill  in  accord- 


24         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

ance  with  the  decision  of  the  caucus  but  sometimes 
its  decision  is  disregarded. 

If  a  high  public  official  should  be  charged  with  gross 
misconduct  in  office,  if,  for  example,  the  President 
should  be  charged  with  not  enforcing  a  law,  or  a 
federal  judge  accused  of  habitual  drunkenness,  he 
could  be  reached  by  the  process  of  impeachment.  Im- 
peachment begins  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
where  the  charges  against  the  unfaithful  officer  must 
be  laid  (14).  If  in  the  judgment  of  the  House  the  ac- 
cused person  is  guilty,  the  impeachment,  or  accusation, 
is  carried  to  the  Senate  to  be  tried  (22).  The  Senate, 
while  trying  the  impeachment,  sits  as  a  court  of  jus- 
tice. Witnesses  are  summoned  and  examined  and  evi- 
dence pro  and  con  is  presented.  If  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  the  Senate  sustains  the  impeachment  the  accused 
person  is  deprived  of  his  office  (23).  He  may  after- 
wards be  tried  and  punished  in  a  court  of  law  for  his 
offense,  but  such  a  trial  is  not  a  part  of  the  process  of 
impeachment.  The  main  object  of  impeachment  is  to 
protect  the  government  from  the  acts  of  faithless  offi- 
cers, not  to  punish  crime.  Its  purpose,  therefore,  is 
fulfilled  when  the  offending  officer  is  removed.  Im- 
peachment is  plainly  a  judicial  rather  than  a  legisla- 
tive function. 

A  treaty  is  a  law  of  the  land  (126).  It  is  only 
right,  therefore,  that  the  legislature  should  partici- 
pate in  the  treaty-making  power.  The  Constitution 
recognizes  this  principle  to  the  extent  that  treaties 
shall  be  confirmed  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Sen- 
ate (95).  The  Constitution  also  provides  that  certain 


CONGRESS  25 

presidential  appointments  must  be  confirmed  by  the 
Senate  (96).  In  the  exercise  of  this  power  the  Senate 
has  established  a  custom  of  confirming  only  those  ap- 
pointments which  are  agreeable  to  the  senator  from 
the  State  in  which  the  appointment  is  made.  The  sen- 
ator to  be  consulted  belongs  to  the  President's  party. 
If  the  State  in  which  the  appointment  is  made  has 
no  senator  of  the  President 's  party,  the  party  leaders 
of  the  State  must  be  consulted.  This  deference  to 
the  wishes  of  individual  senators  in  the  matter  of  con- 
firming appointments  is  called  senatorial  courtesy. 
The  application  of  senatorial  courtesy  increases  the 
power  of  the  Senate,  for  in  many  instances  it  has  the 
effect  of  taking  federal  patronage  from  the  president 
and  bestowing  it  upon  senators.  When  confirming 
appointments  and  treaties  the  Senate  regards  itself 
as  acting  in  an  executive  capacity.  It  generally  holds 
its  executive  sessions  behind  closed  doors.  All  purely 
legislative  sessions,  both  of  the  House  and  of  the 
Senate,  are  as  a  rule  open  to  the  public. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    PRESIDENT   AND    HIS    CABINET 

THE  framers  of  the  Constitution  made  the  President 
of  the  United  States  Commander-in-chief  of  the  mili- 
tary forces  (92) ;  they  gave  him  the  power  of  par- 
doning offenses  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States  (94)  ;  they  conferred  upon  him  jointly  with 
the  Senate  the  treaty-making  power  (95)  and  the 
power  of  appointing  foreign  ministers,  consuls,  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  and  many  other  federal  offi- 
cers (96)  ;  they  imposed  upon  him  the  function  of 
receiving  foreign  ambassadors  and  representatives  of 
foreign  governments  (101)  ;  they  gave  him  authority 
to  deliver  to  Congress  in  person  or  to  lay  before  that 
body  in  writing,  messages  setting  forth  the  condition 
of  public  affairs  and  recommending  measures  for  leg- 
islation (100)  ;  they  gave  him  power  to  convene  Con- 
gress in  extraordinary  session  and  to  adjourn  Con- 
gress when  the  two  Houses  cannot  agree  as  to  the 
matter  of  adjournment  (101) ;  they  gave  him  the  veto 
power  (38). 

The  highest  and  the  chief  duty  of  the  President  is 
"to  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed" 
(102).  This  is  a  purely  executive  duty  and  one  that 
the  President  cannot  escape  A  law  may  be  distaste- 

26 


THE  PRESIDENT  AND  HIS  CABINET      27 

ful  to  the  President,  he  may  regard  it  as  hurtful  or 
unconstitutional,  yet  as  long  as  it  is  a  law  he  must 
enforce  it.  "As  the  citizen  may  not  elect  what  laws 
he  will  obey  neither  may  the  executive  elect  which  he 
will  enforce. ' '  Should  the  President  wantonly  refuse 
to  execute  a  law  he  would  be  removable  by  the  process 
of  impeachment. 

While  the  President  is  bound  to  carry  out  laws  that 
have  been  made  whether  he  is  in  sympathy  with  them 
or  not,  he  at  the  same  time  may  do  much  to  prevent 
the  enactment  of  laws  obnoxious  to  himself  and  much 
to  secure  the  enactment  of  favorite  measures.  His 
power  of  prevention  lies  in  the  veto.  How  great  this 
power  is  may  be  seen  by  a  simple  calculation.  A  bill 
may  pass  in  the  present  House  of  435  members  by  a 
vote  of  218  to  217,  and  in  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  49 
to  47.  Now  if  the  President  should  veto  the  bill  it 
would  require  72  more  votes  in  the  House  and  15 
more  in  the  Senate  (40)  to  pass  the  measure  over  his 
veto.  The  legislative  weight  of  the  President,  there- 
fore, is  nearly  one-sixth  as  great  as  that  of  Congress 
itself. 

The  President's  share  in  law-making  does  not  end 
with  the  negative  power  of  the  veto ;  he  possesses  sev- 
eral legislative  powers  of  a  positive  nature.  In  mak- 
ing the  laws  known  as  treaties  he  takes  the  initiative 
and  is  coordinate  with  the  Senate.  By  convening 
Congress  in  extra  session  he  can  present  to  that  body 
subjects  for  its  special  consideration.  In  annual  and 
special  messages  he  can  give  his  views  in  respect  to 
needed  legislation,  and  through  his  influence  as  a 


28         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

party  leader  and  as  a  distributor  of  patronage  he  can 
often  cause  Congress  to  follow  the  suggestions  con- 
tained in  his  messages. 

A  vacancy  in  the  office  of  President  may  occur  by 
the  death,  impeachment  or  resignation  of  the  in- 
cumbent, or  by  his  inability  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  his  office.  The  Constitution  provides  a  Vice-Presi- 
dent (88)  to  succeed  in  the  case  of  a  vacancy.  If 
for  any  reason  neither  President  nor  Vice-President 
can  serve,  an  officer  designated  by  Congress  (89)  suc- 
ceeds to  the  Presidency.  Under  the  presidential  suc- 
cession act  of  1886  it  is  provided  that  members  of  the 
President's  cabinet  shall  succeed  to  the  Presidency 
in  the  following  order:  (1)  The  Secretary  of  State, 
(2)  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  (3)  the  Secretary 
of  War,  (4)  the  Attorney -general,  (5)  the  Postmaster- 
general,  (6)  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  (7)  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior.  The  one  succeeding  to  the  Pres- 
idency serves  for  the  remainder  of  the  four  years, 
but  any  one  thus  succeeding  must  have  the  constitu- 
tional qualifications. 

Responsibility  for  the  smooth  and  efficient  work- 
ing of  the  great  federal  machine  rests  wholly  on  the 
President,  but  in  the  supervision  of  the  executive  busi- 
ness there  must,  of  course,  be  division  of  labor.  To 
assist  him  in  governing,  the  President  summons  to  his 
aid  assistants  known  as  secretaries.  Washington  be- 
gan his  administration  with  three  secretaries,  a  Secre- 
tary of  State,  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  a  Sec- 
retary of  War.  As  the  business  of  government  in- 
creased the  work  of  the  administration  was  further 


THE  PRESIDENT  AND  HIS  CABINET     29 

divided  and  new  secretaries  were  brought  in.  The 
chief  assistants  of  the  President  now  number  ten  and 
are  as  follows : 

1.  The  Secretary  of  State. 

2.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

3.  The  Secretary  of  War. 

4.  The  Attorney-general. 

5.  The  Postmaster-general. 

6.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

7.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

8.  The  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

9.  The  Secretary  of  Commerce. 
10.  The  Secretary  of  Labor. 

Each  of  these  secretaries  is  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  is  responsible  to  him  for  the  management  of 
his  own  department.  At  stated  times  the  secretaries 
meet  the  President  for  consultation.  This  executive 
council  is  known  as  the  cabinet.  The  cabinet  as  a 
body  has  no  legal  functions  and  is  unknown  to  the 
Constitution,  although  its  existence  is  foreshadowed  in 
the  words,  "the  President  may  require  the  opinion  in 
writing  of  the  principal  officers  in  each  of  the  execu- 
tive departments  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the 
duties  of  their  respective  offices."  (93).  Washington, 
following  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  sometimes 
communicated  with  his  secretaries  individually  and  re- 
quired the  opinion  of  each  in  writing.  On  many 
occasions,  however,  where  important  matters  of  admin- 
istration were  to  be  settled  he  called  his  secretaries 


30         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

together  around  a  council  board.  It  is  said  of  Jeffer- 
son: "When  a  question  occurred  of  sufficient  mag- 
nitude to  require  the  opinion  of  all  the  heads  of 
departments  he  called  them  together,  had  the  sub- 
ject discussed  and  a  vote  taken  in  which  he  counted 
himself  as  but  one."  From  out  of  these  early  meet- 
ings of  the  President  and  his  secretaries  has  grown 
the  cabinet  meeting  of  to-day.  The  cabinet  meets 
at  the  White  House  at  the  call  of  the  President. 
Records  of  its  meetings  are  rarely  kept,  and  the  pub- 
lic does  not  know  what  takes  place  at  them.  The 
President  is  not  bound  to  act  according  to  the  wishes 
of  the  cabinet,  nor  does  he  always  do  so.  The  func- 
tion of  the  cabinet  is  to  discuss  and  advise;  it  is  for 
the  President  to  decide  and  act. 


CHAPTER  V 

FEDERAL  EXECUTIVE  WORK 

IT  is  chiefly  through  his  cabinet  officers  as  heads  of 
departments  that  the  President  governs.  These  de- 
partments are: 

I.  The  Department  of  State  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Secretary  of  State  attends  to  foreign  af- 
fairs.    It  conducts  the  negotiations  which  lead  up  to 
the  making  of  treaties,  instructs  our  foreign  ministers 
and  consuls  in  their  duties,  extends  official  courtesies 
to  the  ministers  from  other  countries,  gives  passports 
to  those  intending  to  travel  abroad,  protects  American 
citizens  in  other  lands,  and  transacts  all  other  busi- 
ness arising  between  our  government  and  other  gov- 
ernments.    The  Secretary  of  State  is  regarded  as  first 
in  rank  among  the  heads  of  the  departments. 

II.  The  Department  of  the  Treasury  under  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  manages  the  financial  busi- 
ness of  the  country.     It  collects  the  internal  revenue, 
and  the  customs  duties ;  it  attends  to  the  expenditure 
of  money  appropriated  by  Congress;  it  manages  the 
public  debt ;  it  organizes  and  inspects  national  banks ; 
it  controls  the  mints  and  supervises  the  making  of 
paper  money.     In   addition   to   its   purely  financial 
duties  this  department  controls  the  life-saving  serv- 

31 


32         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

ice  maintained  for  the  rescue  of  persons  from  ship- 
wreck, supervises  the  construction  of  public  build- 
ings, and  manages  the  marine  hospitals  maintained 
for  disabled  soldiers. 

III.  The  Department  of  War  under  the  Secretary 
of  War  has  charge  of  the  land  forces.     It  purchases 
supplies  for  the  soldiers,  controls  the  transportation 
of  troops,  directs  the  improvements  of  rivers  and  har- 
bors, superintends  the  signal  service  and  controls  the 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 

IV.  The  Department  of  Justice  under  the  Attor- 
ney-general is  the  law  department  of  the  national 
government.     When  the  President  or  a  member  of 
the  cabinet  desires  legal  advice  it  is  furnished  by 
this  department.     When  the  government  of  the  United 
States  is  interested  in  a  case  in  court,  an  officer  of 
this  department  defends  or  prosecutes  the  suit.     Next 
in  rank  to  the  Attorney-general  in  the  Department  of 
Justice  is  the  Solicitor-general  who,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Attorney-general,  has  charge  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  government  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

V.  The  Post-office  Department  under  the  Postmas- 
ter-general, in  addition  to  collecting,   carrying  and 
distributing   the  mail,    establishes   and   discontinues 
post-offices,  provides  the  public  with  stamps  and  postal 
cards,  conducts  a  money  postal-order  system  by  which 
money  may  be  safely  transmitted  to  all  parts  of  the 
world,  hastens  the  delivery  of  mail  by  means  of  a 
special   delivery   system,    sends   by   " parcels   post" 
packages  to  all  parts  of  our  own  country  and  to  about 


FEDERAL  EXECUTIVE  WORK  33 

thirty  designated  foreign  countries,  and  manages  the 
business  of  the  postal  savings  bank. 

VI.  The  Department  of  the  Navy  under  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  purchases  naval  supplies,  provides 
for  the  construction  and  equipment  of  vessels,  super- 
vises the  navy  yards  and  docks,  and  controls  the  Naval 
Academy  at  Annapolis. 

VII.  The  Department  of  the  Interior  under  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  has  charge  of  national  af- 
fairs that  are  of  a  purely  domestic  nature.     It  exam- 
ines pension  claims  and  grants  pensions,  controls  In- 
dian affairs,  directs  the  sale  of  public  lands,  issues 
patents,  superintends  such   educational  interests  as 
are  of  a  national  concern,  directs  the  work  of  the 
geological  survey,  superintends  the  construction  and 
operation   of  irrigation   works   authorized  by   Con- 
gress, and  investigates  methods  by  which  the  safety  of 
miners  may  be  provided  for. 

VIII.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  under  the 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  diffuses  among  the  people  of 
the  United  States  useful  information  on  subjects  con- 
nected with  agriculture  in  the  most  general  and  com- 
prehensive sense  of  that  term,  and  procures,  propa- 
gates and  distributes  among  the  people  new  and  val- 
uable seeds  and  plants.     This  department  has  charge 
of  the  Weather  Bureau  which  forecasts  the  weather; 
it  conducts  the  inspection  of  animals  and  meat  and 
food  products  when  these  are  subjects  of  interstate 
commerce:  it  studies  plant  life  in  all  its  relations  to 
agriculture  and  gives  to  farmers  the  benefit  of  its 
investigations;  it  has  charge  of  the  forests  belonging 


34         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

to  the  United  States;  it  collects  informations  as  to 
crops;  it  investigates  soils  and  obtains  information 
regarding  insects  which  injure  crops  and  plants. 

IX.  The  Department  of  Commerce  under  the  Sec- 
retary of  Commerce  "fosters,  promotes  and  develops 
the  foreign  and  domestic  commerce,  the  mining,  man- 
ufacturing, shipping  and  fishing  industries  and  the 
transportation  facilities  of  the  United  States." 

X.  The  Department  of  Labor  under  the  Secretary 
of  Labor  fosters,  promotes  and  develops  the  welfare 
of  the  wage  earners  of  the  United  States,  improves 
their  working  conditions  and  advances  their  oppor- 
tunities for  profitable  employment.     One  of  its  chief 
duties  is  "to  collect,  collate  and  report  full  and  com- 
plete statistics  of  the  conditions  of  labor  and  the 
products  and  distribution  of  the  same."    It  also  en- 
forces the  immigration  laws  and  the  laws  relating  to 
the  naturalization  of  aliens  and  through  the  agency 
of  the  Children's  Bureau  reports  upon  the  welfare 
of  children. 

Each  of  the  ten  departments  has  the  control  of  a 
vast  amount  of  executive  business,  and  it  is  necessary 
to  subdivide  the  work  of  a  department  and  place  an 
officer  at  the  head  of  each  subdivision.  A  subdivision 
of  a  department  is  sometimes  known  as  a  division  of 
the  department  but  more  often  it  is  known  as  a  bureau, 
and  the  head  of  the  bureau  is  called  a  director  or 
commissioner,  or  superintendent.  For  example,  in  the 
department  of  Commerce  there  is  a  Bureau  of  For- 
eign and  Domestic  Commerce,  a  Bureau  of  Light- 
houses, a  Bureau  of  Census,  a  Bureau  of  Fisheries,  a 


FEDERAL  EXECUTIVE  WORK  35 

Bureau  of  Navigation,  a  Bureau  of  Standards,  the 
Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  and  a  Steamboat-Inspec- 
tion Service. 

A  few  items  of  executive  business  have  not  been 
assigned  to  any  one  of  the  ten  great  departments. 
The  work  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  is 
performed  by  nine  commissioners  who  act  independ- 
ently of  any  department.  The  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission, whose  duty  is  to  regulate  and  improve  the 
civil  service  of  the  United  States,  consists  of  three 
commissioners  who  are  responsible  directly  to  the 
President.  The  Federal  Trade  Commission,  the  Fed- 
eral Reserve  Board,  the  Shipping  Board,  the  Farm 
Loan  Board,  the  Government  Printing  Office,  the  Li- 
brary of  Congress  and  the  Smithsonian  Institution  are 
also  outside  of  departmental  control.  The  chief  offi- 
cers in  all  these  cases  of  extra-departmental  activity 
are  nominated  by  the  President  and  confirmed  by  the 
Senate,  just  as  other  principal  officers  are. 

There  are  more  than  500,000  persons  employed  in 
the  executive  civil  service.  Of  these  nearly  10,000 
are  appointed  directly  by  the  President.  These  are 
known  as  the  presidential  appointments.  The  presi- 
dential appointments  are  the  leading  officials,  the 
heads  of  departments  and  their  chief  assistants,  the 
heads  of  bureaus  and  divisions,  the  postmasters  of 
large  cities  and  towns,  the  chief  custom  house  officers, 
the  ministers  to  foreign  countries  and  the  like.  All 
officers  and  employees  who  are  not  appointed  directly 
by  the  President  are  appointed  by  the  heads  of  the 
department  (98). 


36         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

In  1883  Congress  provided  for  the  competitive  ex- 
amination of  a  large  class  of  employees  in  the  civil 
service,  and  for  appointment  according  to  merit  rather 
than  according  to  party  affiliation.  The  rule  of  ap- 
pointment according  to  ascertained  merit  has  been 
extended  until  it  now  reaches  almost  every  depart- 
ment of  the  national  civil  service  and  embraces  about 
two-thirds  of  all  the  employees.  Appointees  under 
the  competitive  system  hold  their  positions  during 
good  behavior  and  efficient  service.  No  employee, 
however,  is  placed  beyond  the  President's  power  to 
remove. 

The  salaries  of  the  principal  officers  of  the  federal 
government  are  as  follows: 

President $75,000 

Vice-President 12,000 

Members  of  the  cabinet 12,000 

Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  .      .      .  15,000 

Associate  Justices  of  Supreme  Court  .      .     .  14,500 

Judges  of  Circuit  Courts 7,000 

Judges  of  District  Courts 6,000 

Representatives 7,500 

Senators 7,500 

Ambassadors 17,500 

Ministers 10,000 

Members  of  Interstate  Commerce  Commission    10,000 

Members  of  Federal  Trade  Commission  .      .  10,000 

Members  of  Federal  Reserve  Board     .      .      .  12,000 

Members  of  the  Shipping  Board  ....  7,500 

Heads  of  Bureaus  and  Divisions  .     .  3,000  to  6,000 


CHAPTER  VI 

COURTS,  STATE  AND  FEDERAL 

UNDER  our  political  system  it  has  been  necessary 
to  establish  two  separate  and  distinct  systems  of 
judicial  tribunals,  State  courts  and  federal  courts. 
The  judges  of  the  State  courts  in  more  than  three- 
fourths  of  the  States  are  chosen  by  the  voters.  In 
the  other  States  they  are  either  appointed  by  the 
governor  or  chosen  by  the  legislature.  Their  terms 
vary  in  length,  the  average  term  being  about  eight 
years.  In  a  very  few  States  they  hold  office  for  life. 
Federal  judges  are  appointed  by  the  President  (196). 
Once  appointed  they  cannot  be  removed  except  for 
cause  (106)  and  then  only  by  the  solemn  process  of 
impeachment.  Their  salaries  may  not  be  decreased, 
although  they  may  be  increased. 

The  State  courts  are  entirely  independent  of  the 
federal  courts.  They  have  their  own  judges  and  court 
officers — sheriffs,  clerks  and  prosecuting  officers — and 
their  own  court-houses.  They  attend  to  the  judicial 
business  of  the  State  and  cannot  be  compelled  to  per- 
form judicial  duties  of  a  federal  nature.  Their  de- 
cisions, however,  may  be  reviewed  and  reversed  by  the 
federal  courts.  When  one  of  the  parties  to  a  case  in 
a  State  court  claims  that  the  decision  of  the  court  is 

37 


38         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

contrary  to  the  federal  Constitution  or  to  federal  law 
the  ease  may  be  carried  over  to  the  federal  courts  for 
trial,  but  when  a  case  is  wholly  outside  of  federal 
authority  it  must  receive  its  final  settlement  in  a  State 
court. 

In  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  State  it  has 
been  found  convenient  in  all  the  States  to  have  at 
least  three  grades  of  courts : 

I.  The  Justice's  Court.    This  court,  the  lowest  in 
the  series,  is  held  by  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  may  be 
called  the  court  of  the  neighborhood,  for  in  every  com- 
munity it  is  near  at  hand  to  administer  justice  in 
small  affairs.     In  it  are  tried  petty  misdemeanors  and 
civil  cases  involving  small  sums  of  money.     In  the 
trial  of  trivial  offenses  and  of  civil  cases  involving  but 
a  small  sum  of  money  the  decision  of  the  court  is 
usually  final,  but  when  its  judgment  inflicts  a  severe 
penalty  or  involves  a  considerable  sum  of  money  an 
appeal  may  be  taken  to  a  higher  court.     In  cities, 
police  courts,  sometimes  called  municipal,  sometimes 
magistrates'  courts,  are  often  established  for  the  trial 
of  petty  criminal  cases. 

II.  The   Circuit  or  District  Court.    This  is  the 
tribunal  next  above  the  justice's  court,  and  it  may  be 
called  the  court  of  the  county,  for  it  is  held  in  every 
county  at  the  county-seat.     It  must  not  be  understood, 
however,  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  judges  of  this 
court  is  limited  to  a  single  county.    A  circuit   (or 
district)   usually  includes  several  counties,  and  the 
judges  of  a  circuit  go  from  county  to  county  to  hold 
court.     In  rural  districts  this  court  tries  both  civil 


COURTS,  STATE  AND  FEDERAL         39 

and  criminal  cases,  but  in  the  larger  cities  there  is 
generally  a  criminal  court  of  corresponding  grade  for 
the  trial  of  the  criminal  cases.  A  very  large  city 
often  has  an  elaborate  system  of  courts  of  its  own. 

These  courts  of  the  second  grade  are  the  centers  of 
most  of  the  judicial  activity  of  the  State.  In  them 
are  tried  the  weightier  cases  of  the  law.  They  review 
the  cases  appealed  from  the  justice's  court  and  they 
have  original  jurisdiction  in  serious  criminal  cases 
and  in  important  civil  cases. 

It  is  in  these  courts,  too,  that  the  jury  figures  most 
prominently  as  an  agency  of  justice.     Juries  are  of  two 
kinds,  grand  and  petit.     The  grand  jury  is  a  body  of 
men  varying  from  12  to  23  in  number,  chosen  by 
court  officials  to  inquire  whether  there  have  been  any 
violations  of  the  law  in  the  community  and  to  deter- 
mine whether  or  not  these  persons  under  suspicion 
should  come  up  for  trial.    When  making  an  inquiry 
into  a  criminal  charge  the  grand  jury  sits  in  secret 
and  hears  only  the  evidence  against  the  accused.     Its 
function  is  not   to  try  the  accused,  but  to  decide 
whether  on  the  face  of  things  there  is  sufficient  evi- 
dence of  guilt  to  warrant  a  trial.    When  a  majority 
of  the  grand  jury  are  satisfied  that  the  case  ought  to 
be  tried  the  indictment  is  endorsed  with  the  words 
"a  true  bill/'  and  the  case  goes  to  the  petit  jury  to 
be  tried.     This  body  (in  all  the  States  but  one)  must 
consist  of  twelve  men.     It  sits  in  open  session,  hears 
evidence  on  both  sides  of  the  case.    During  the  prog- 
ress of  the  trial  questions  of  law  are  determined  by  the 
court;  the  jury  determines  only  questions  of  fact. 


40    THE  "WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

After  the  evidence  has  all  been  given  and  counsel  on 
both  sides  of  the  case  have  been  heard,  the  jury  retires 
from  the  court-room  and  is  locked  into  a  small  room 
where  it  remains  until  it  finds  a  verdict,  or  until  the 
judge  decides  that  no  verdict  will  be  reached.  In 
nearly  all  the  States  it  is  required  that  all  the  twelve 
members  shall  agree  upon  the  verdict.  When  no 
agreement  is  reached  a  new  trial  may  be  ordered.  As 
a  general  rule  it  may  be  said  that  the  verdict  of  a 
jury  is  decisive. 

Juries  are  chosen  from  the  ordinary  citizens  in  the 
neighborhood  in  which  the  trial  is  conducted — from 
farmers,  mechanics,  merchants — and  this  is  the  fea- 
ture doubtless  that  makes  trial  by  jury  so  popular. 
When  a  man  is  tried  by  men  who  are  neither  too  far 
above  him  nor  too  far  below  him  to  have  sympathy 
with  him,  he  has  a  good  chance  for  a  fair  trial.  The 
jury  system,  like  every  other  human  institution,  has 
its  defects,  but  notwithstanding  its  shortcomings  it 
is  one  of  the  greatest  safeguards  of  civil  liberty  ever 
invented. 

III.  The  Supreme  Court.  In  this  court  resides 
the  supreme  judicial  authority  of  the  State.  It  gen- 
erally sits  at  the  State  capital,  where  it  holds  sessions 
the  greater  part  of  the  year.  Its  jurisdiction  is  for 
the  most  part  appellate,  although  there  are  a  few  in- 
stances in  which  it  has  original  jurisdiction.  For  ex- 
ample, a  case  involving  the  official  action  of  a  State 
officer  is  usually  begun  in  the  supreme  court.  Most 
of  the  cases,  however,  tried  in  the  supreme  court  come 
up  to  it  from  the  courts  below.  When  a  decision  of 


COURTS,  STATE  AND  FEDERAL         41 

this  court  conflicts  in  no  way  with  the  federal  author- 
ity it  is  final,  and  is  binding  upon  the  people  of  the 
State  as  long  as  the  State  constitution  remains  un- 
changed, but  when  the  decision  conflicts  with  federal 
law  or  with  the  federal  Constitution  it  may  be  re- 
versed by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

In  several  States  where  the  work  of  the  courts  is 
unusually  heavy  there  has  been  inserted  between  the 
court  of  the  second  grade  and  the  supreme  court  an 
intermediate  appellate  court.  This  additional  tri- 
bunal has  been  established  to  relieve  the  State  supreme 
court  of  some  of  its  burden.  The  jurisdiction  of  this 
intermediate  court  is  purely  appellate,  and  its  deci- 
sions are  final,  except  in  a  few  specified  cases  which 
may  be  carried  from  it  up  to  the  higher  court. 

In  many  of  the  States  we  find  in  every  county 
a  probate  or  surrogate's  court — sometimes  called 
the  orphans'  court.  In  States  where  there  is  no 
separate  court,  the  probate  business  is  given  to  the 
county  court,  an  institution  found  in  many  States. 
This  county  court  in  a  few  States  has  functions  which 
are  purely  judicial  and  may  try  misdemeanors  and 
small  civil  cases.  In  six  States  we  find  chancery 
courts  separate  from  the  law  courts.  In  these  chan- 
cery courts  the  equity1  cases  are  tried.  As  a  rule, 
however,  equity  cases  are  tried  in  the  regular  law 
courts  of  the  system. 

Judges  in  courts  of  equity — and  in  most  States  the 

1  When  a  civil  case  is  tried  before  a  judge  and  jury  it  is  a 
case  at  law;  when  tried  before  a  judge  only,  it  is  a  case  at 
equity. 


42         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

regular  law  courts  are  also  courts  of  equity — have  the 
power  to  issue  the  writ  of  injunction  forbidding  a 
person  to  do,  or  commanding  him  to  do,  a  certain 
thing.  If  the  injunction  is  disobeyed  the  person  dis- 
obeying it  is  liable  to  punishment.  The  injunction  is 
generally  used  to  prevent  the  commission  of  wrongs 
which  could  not  be  prevented  by  the  ordinary  work- 
ings of  a  lawsuit.  Thus,  if  a  railroad  company  begins 
to  lay  its  tracks  across  a  man  ?s  property  without  first 
securing  a  right  of  way,  a  judge  in  a  court  of  equity, 
at  any  time  of  the  day  or  night,  will  issue  an  injunc- 
tion forbidding  the  railroad  to  continue  the  laying  of 
the  tracks.  In  recent  cases  courts  have  forbidden 
labor  leaders  and  others  to  induce  or  coerce  working- 
men  to  strike  where  the  strike  would  cause  irreparable 
injury  and  damage  to  the  employers.  This  use  of  the 
injunction  has  met  with  fierce  opposition  and  is  re- 
garded by  many  as  unwarranted  and  unjust.  The 
power  of  injunction  is  exercised  by  federal  as  well  as 
by  State  judges. 

In  certain  cases  State  judges  may  issue  the  writ  of 
mandamus.  This  writ  is  issued  to  an  officer,  or  cor- 
poration, requiring  the  performance  of  a  public  duty 
which  the  officer  or  corporation  has  refused  to  per- 
form. The  purpose  of  this  important  writ  is  to  com- 
pel the  officer  to  go  forward  and  do  that  which  his 
position  plainly  requires  him  to  do.  Federal  judges 
also  may  in  certain  cases  issue  the  writ  of  mandamus. 
The  organization  of  the  federal  courts  is  as  follows : 
I.  The  District  Courts.  The  lowest  of  the  federal 
courts  is  the  District  Court  presided  over  by  a  district 


COURTS,  STATE  AND  FEDERAL        43 

judge.  In  every  State  there  is  at  least  one  District 
Court  and  in  the  larger  States  there  are  several.  Al- 
together there  are  in  the  United  States  about  one  hun- 
dred District  Courts.  The  District  Court  has  original 
jurisdiction  in  nearly  all  those  classes  of  cases  both 
civil  and  criminal  which  arise  under  the  laws  of  the 
United  States.  In  this  court  are  tried  admiralty  and 
maritime  cases,  copyright  and  patent  cases,  counter- 
feit cases,  cases  arising  under  the  postal  laws,  cases 
arising  under  the  laws  regulating  immigration,  and 
naturalization,  cases  arising  under  the  laws  regulating 
commerce,  and  other  classes  of  cases  cognizable  by  the 
authority  of  the  United  States. 

II.  The  Circuit  Courts  of  Appeal.  For  the  trial 
of  certain  classes  of  cases  upon  appeal  Congress  has 
established  nine  judicial  circuits  and  has  provided  for 
each  circuit  a  court  known  as  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Appeals.  This  court  is  composed  of  regular  circuit 
judges  and  of  judges  of  the  other  courts,  three  judges 
being  necessary  for  the  trial  of  a  case.  To  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals  are  brought  all  appeals  from  the 
District  Court  except  in  the  five  following  instances: 

(1)  When  the  case  involves  a  question  of  jurisdiction; 

(2)  when  it  involves  the  construction  of  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States;  (3)  when  it  involves  a 
question  of  the  constitutionality  of  a  law;  (4)  when 
it  involves  the  construction  of  a  treaty;  (5)  when  it 
involves  conviction  for  higher  crimes.     These  excepted 
cases  must  be  taken  direct  from  the  District  Court  to 
the  Supreme  Court.     In  all  other  cases  than  these  the 
appeal  from  the  District  Court  lies  to  the  Circuit 


44         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

Court  of  Appeals.  The  decisions  of  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Appeals  are  made  final  in  certain  enumerated 
classes  of  cases,  including  copyright,  patent  and  ad- 
miralty cases,  .thus  relieving  the  Supreme  Court  en- 
tirely of  those  classes  of  cases.  The  cases  not  enumer- 
ated as  final  are  still  appealable  to  the  Supreme  Court. 
III.  The  Supreme  Court,  consisting  of  the  Chief 
Justice  and  eight  associate  justices.  This  court  holds 
its  regular  sessions  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington, 
sitting  from  October  to  July.  The  presence  of  at  least 
six  judges  is  required  in  the  trial  of  a  case,  and  the 
judgment  of  a  majority  is  necessary  in  rendering  a 
decision.  The  Chief  Justice  presides  at  the  sessions 
of  the  court,  but  when  the  court  is  forming  its  deci- 
sion he  is  on  an  equality  with  the  other  judges.  He 
has  but  one  vote,  and  that  is  often  cast  with  the 
minority.  The  Supreme  Court  has  original  jurisdic- 
tion in  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  ministers  and 
consuls,  and  in  those  cases  in  which  a  State  is  one  of 
the  parties  to  the  controversy  (110).  Its  appellate 
jurisdiction  includes  certain  cases  which  are  brought 
up  to  it  from  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  and  all 
those  cases  which  must  be  brought  to  it  direct  from 
the  District  Courts.  As  there  is  no  higher  tribunal 
a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
is  accepted  as  being  the  law  of  the  land. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE 

IN  outward  form,  at  least,  the  legisture  of  one  State, 
although  it  may  be  widely  separated  by  distance,  and 
although  it  is  created  independently,  is  very  much 
like  that  of  another  State.  All  legislatures  meet  at 
the  State  capital ;  the  upper  house  is  always  called  the 
Senate  and  is  always  much  smaller  than  the  lower 
house,  which  is  usually  called  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives; in  all  the  States  members  must  reside  in 
the  district  which  they  represent;  in  all  but  eight 
States  the  legislature  meets  every  two  years,  and  in  all 
but  eight  the  length  of  its  session  is  limited  to  a  term 
that  varies  from  forty  to  ninety  days ;  in  all  the  States 
the  compensation  of  members  is  the  same  for  both 
houses ;  in  all  the  States  but  one  a  law  passed  by  the 
legislature  can  be  vetoed  by  the  governor,  and  the 
veto  can  be  overcome  by  a  majority  vote  or  by  three- 
fifths  or  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both  houses;  in  every 
State  each  house  is  the  judge  of  the  qualifications 
and  election  of  its  own  members. 

Upon  assembling,  each  house  of  a  newly  elected 
legislature  elects  its  presiding  officer.  In  the  lower 
house  this  officer  is  called  the  speaker;  in  the  Senate 
he  is  called  chairman  or  president.  In  most  of  the 

45 


46         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

States  there  is  a  lieutenant-governor,  who  presides  in 
the  Senate  but  does  not  vote  except  where  there  is  a  tie. 
As  soon  as  a  clerk,  a  sergeant-at-arms,  doorkeepers, 
messengers  and  other  minor  officers  have  been  elected 
the  presiding  officer  of  each  house  announces  the  com- 
mittees, which  are  as  numerous  as  the  interests  and 
subjects  that  engage  the  attention  of  the  legislature, 
the  most  important  being  those  on  finance,  corpor- 
ations, municipalities,  the  judiciary,  appropriations, 
elections,  education,  labor,  manufactures,  agriculture, 
railroads.  The  committees  are  agencies  of  the  utmost 
importance,  for  they  are  the  channels  through  which 
all  legislation  must  pass. 

Any  proposed  law,  called  a  bill,  immediately  after  it 
is  introduced  and  read,  is  referred  to  its  proper  com- 
mittee. The  committee  considers  the  bill  in  a  private 
room  where  citizens  may  appear  to  defend  or  oppose 
it,  and  if  it  thinks  the  bill  ought  not  to  become  a  law 
it  reports  it  unfavorably,  and  thus  usually  kills  it.  It 
is  possible  to  pass  a  bill  after  it  has  been  thus  unfavor- 
ably reported,  but  this  is  rarely  done.  The  judgment 
of  the  committee  is  practically  final.  If  the  bill  is 
reported  favorably  its  title  is  read  and  it  is  allowed  to 
pass  upon  its  second  reading.  In  its  regular  order  it 
comes  up  for  its  third  and  last  reading.  Now  it  is 
read  in  full,  amended,  perhaps,  and  voted  upon.  If 
it  fails  to  get  a  majority  of  the  votes  that  is  probably 
the  last  of  it.  If  it  receives  a  majority  of  the  votes  it 
is  sent  to  the  other  branch  to  be  acted  upon.  Here  it 
is  referred  by  the  presiding  officer  to  its  proper  com- 
mittee, is  read  three  times  upon  three  different  days, 


THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE  47 

is  fully  discussed  upon  its  last  reading,  and  is  then 
voted  upon.  If  it  passes  without  amendments  made 
in  this  second  branch  it  goes  to  the  governor  to  be 
signed  by  him.  If  it  passes  with  amendment  it  must 
be  returned  to  the  house  in  which  it  originated  to  be 
voted  upon  in  its  amended  form.  If  it  passes  in  the 
house  in  that  form  it  becomes,  as  far  as  the  legislature 
is  concerned  a  law.  If  there  is  trouble  over  the 
amendment  a  joint  committee,  or  conference  commit- 
tee, consisting  of  several  members  from  each  house,  is 
appointed  to  see  what  can  be  done  to  settle  the  matter. 
The  action  of  this  committee,  if  it  reaches  an  agree- 
ment, is  usually  accepted  by  both  houses.  A  bill  may 
originate  in  either  house,  but,  as  a  rule  bills  for 
raising  revenue  must  originate  in  the  lower  house, 
because  this  branch  is  supposed  to  be  closer  to  the 
taxpayers. 

After  a  bill  has  passed  both  houses  it  is  sent  to  the 
governor  for  his  approval.  In  order  to  guard  against 
hasty  and  unwise  legislation,  and  especially  against 
encroachments  of  the  legislature  upon  the  other  two 
departments,  the  governor,  like  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  can  (in  all  but  one  State)  forbid  the 
passage  of  a  bill  by  his  veto.  When  he  does  this  he 
sends  the  bill  back,  with  his  objections  stated  in  writ- 
ing, to  that  branch  of  the  legislature  that  sent  it  to 
him.  The  bill  may  be  voted  upon  again,  and  if  it  can 
secure  the  number  of  votes  required  by  the  constitu- 
tion in  such  cases  it  becomes  a  law  in  spite  of  the 
governor's  veto. 

To  make  laws  effective  there  must  be  strong  public 


48         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

opinion  back  of  them.  It  is  therefore  a  good  demo- 
cratic policy  to  have  the  people  vote  upon  ordinary 
laws.  The  number  of  States  is  constantly  increasing 
in  which  this  direct  legislation  by  the  people  is  in 
practice.  The  political  device  by  which  the  people 
vote  upon  the  laws  is  known  as  the  Initiative  and 
Referendum.  The  nature  of  the  power  which  may 
thus  be  exerted  may  best  be  learned  from  a  clause 
in  the  constitution  of  one  of  the  States  in  which  a 
system  of  direct  legislation  is  in  full  force:  "The 
legislative  authority  of  this  State  shall  be  vested  in  a 
legislature  consisting  of  a  senate  and  a  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, but  the  people  reserve  to  themselves  the 
power  to  propose  laws  and  amendments  to  the  consti- 
tution and  to  adopt  or  reject  the  same  at  the  polls 
independent  of  the  legislature,  and  also  reserve  power 
at  their  own  option  to  approve  or  reject  at  the  polls 
any  act  of  the  legislature.  .  .  .  The  first  power  re- 
served to  the  people  is  the  Initiative  and  8  per  cent, 
of  the  legal  voters  shall  have  the  right  to  propose  any 
measure,  and  15  per  cent,  of  the  legal  voters  shall  have 
the  right  to  propose  amendments  to  the  constitution, 
by  petition,  and  every  such  petition  shall  include  the 
full  text  of  the  measure  proposed.  The  second  power 
is  the  Referendum,  and  it  may  be  ordered  (except  as 
to  laws  necessary  for  the  immediate  preservation  of 
the  public  peace,  health,  or  safety)  either  by  petition 
signed  by  5  per  cent,  of  the  legal  voters,  or  by  the 
legislature  as  other  bills  are  enacted.  .  .  .  The  veto 
power  of  the  governor  shall  not  extend  to  measures 
voted  upon  by  the  people.  .  .  .  Any  measure  referred 


THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE  49 

to  the  people  by  the  initiative  [or  the  referendum] 
shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  when  it  shall  have 
been  approved  by  a  majority  of  votes  cast  in  such 
election.  .  .  .  The  referendum  may  be  demanded  by 
the  people  against  one  or  more  items,  sections,  or 
parts  of  any  act  of  the  legislature,  in  the  same  manner 
in  which  such  power  may  be  exercised  against  a  com- 
plete act/' 

The  constitutional  clause  just  quoted  shows  that 
the  device  of  the  initiative  and  referendum  gives  life 
and  power  to  the  old  right  of  petition.  If  a  consid- 
erable number  of  voters  (usually  from  5  to  8  per 
cent.)  in  any  State  desire  a  certain  law,  the  initiative 
enables  them  by  petition  to  bring  the  measure  before 
the  electorate  to  be  voted  upon.  If  a  considerable 
number  of  voters  are  opposed  to  a  law  passed  by  the 
legislature,  the  referendum  enables  them  to  have  the 
law  referred  to  decision  of  the  electorate.  Thus  the 
initiative  is  a  positive  or  constructive  force:  it  en- 
ables the  voters  to  secure  what  they  want.  The  refer- 
endum is  a  negative  or  preventive  force:  it  enables 
voters  to  veto  laws  which  they  do  not  want. 

The  general  use  of  the  Initiative  and  Referendum 
throughout  the  country  would  introduce  a  new  force 
into  American  politics  and  would  profoundly  change 
the  character  of  American  government.  What  the 
results  of  a  general  system  of  direct  legislation  would 
be  is  of  course  largely  a  matter  of  conjecture.  In 
Switzerland,  where  the  people  have  had  centuries  of 
training  in  public  affairs,  direct  legislation  has  been 
a  success.  In  the  United  States  it  is  probable  that 


50         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

the  initiative  and  referendum  will  succeed  only  in 
those  States  where  the  people  by  instinct  and  tradi- 
tion are  intensely  democratic,  where  the  popular  in- 
terest in  public  affairs  is  keen,  universal  and  sus- 
tained, and  where  the  average  of  popular  intelligence 
is  very  high. 

While  the  use  of  the  initiative  and  referendum  in 
the  making  of  State  laws  is  important  its  use  in  con- 
nection with  municipal  legislation  is  even  more  im- 
portant. Everywhere  throughout  the  country  it  is 
becoming  the  custom  to  give  the  voters  of  cities  the 
right  to  manage  municipal  affairs  quite  directly 
through  the  means  of  the  initiative  and  referendum. 
This  is  especially  true  of  those  cities  that  have  adopted 
the  commission  form  of  government. 

Closely  associated  with  the  initiative  and  refer- 
endum is  the  device  known  as  the  "recall."  The  aim 
of  this  device  is  to  give  the  people  complete  control 
over  the  officers  whom  they  have  elected.  Where  the 
recall  is  in  use  the  voters,  upon  the  complaint  or 
petition  of  a  certain  number  of  citizens  vote  upon  the 
question  whether  a  certain  officer  shall  be  deprived  of 
(recalled  from)  his  office  before  his  term  expires,  and 
if  the  vote  is  in  favor  of  the  officer's  removal  he  must 
give  up  his  office  before  the  end  of  his  term.  When 
an  oiiicer  is  removed  by  the  operation  of  the  recall, 
the  vacancy  is  filled  by  holding  a  special  election,  at 
which  the  officer  removed  may  be  a  candidate  if  he 
so  desires.  The  recall  is  in  operation  in  many  of  the 
cities  governed  by  the  commission  system,  and  in  some 
cities  not  thus  governed.  In  several  instances  mayors 


THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE  51 

of  large  cities  have  been  removed  through  the  pro- 
cedure of  the  recall.  In  Oregon,  Colorado,  Washing- 
ton, Kansas,  Arizona  and  California,  every  State 
official  is  subject  to  recall.  The  recall  is  a  mild  form 
of  impeachment.  In  case  of  impeachment  the  ac- 
cused officer  is  tried  by  the  legislature;  under  the 
procedure  of  the  recall  the  accused  is  tried  by  the 
whole  body  of  voters. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   STATE  EXECUTIVE 

EVERY  State  has  a  governor,  (almost  every  State 
has  a  lieutenant  governor),  a  secretary  of  state  and 
a  treasurer;  almost  every  State  has  a  comptroller,  or 
auditor,  an  attorney-general  and  a  superintendent  of 
education.  The  length  of  the  terms  of  service  of  these 
officers,  the  manner  of  their  election  or  appointment, 
and  their  qualifications  and  salaries  are  regulated  by 
the  constitution  or  by  statute.  Their  duties  which  do 
not  vary  widely  from  State  to  State,  are  as  follows : 

The  Governor.  (1)  The  first  duty  of  the  governor 
is  to  take  care  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed. 
The  governor  is  commander-in-chief  of  the  military 
forces  of  the  State,  and  he  can  call  upon  the  soldiers  to 
assist  him  in  enforcing  the  judgment  of  a  court  or  in 
suppressing  riots  and  disorderly  proceedings. 

(2)  Another  duty  of  the  governor  is  to  transmit  to 
the  legisature  a  message,  informing  it  of  the  condition 
of  affairs  within  the  State  and  suggesting  such  legis- 
lation as  he  may  deem  wise.  The  legislature,  how- 
ever, is  not  bound  to  follow  the  suggestions  made  in 
the  message  or  even  to  consider  them.  If  the  legis- 
lature is  not  in  session  and  the  governor  thinks  cer- 
tain legislation  urgent,  he  may  summon  it  to  meet  in 

52 


THE  STATE  EXECUTIVE  53 

extra  session  and  lay  before  it  the  measures  that  de- 
mand immediate  consideration. 

(3)  In  many  States  the  governor  has  the  pardoning 
power  which  it  is  his  duty  to  exercise  when  he  thinks 
a  person  has  been  unjustly  convicted  of  crime.    His 
pardon  may  be  absolute  or  he  may  commute  the  pun- 
ishment.    For  good  reason  he  may  grant  reprieves. 
In  a  few  States  the  power  of  pardon,  commutation 
and  reprieve  is  not  left  to  the  governor,  but  is  vested 
in  a  special  body  of  officers  known  as  the  board  of 
pardons. 

(4)  In  every  State  it  is  the  duty  of  the  governor  to 
appoint  many  officials  whose  selection  is  not  otherwise 
provided  for.     When  an  elective  official  dies  or  re- 
signs before   his   term   ends   the   governor   fills   the 
vacancy  by  appointing  some  one  to  serve  until  another 
election  is  held.     He  also  issues  writs  of  election  to 
fill  vacancies  when  any  occur  in  the  representation  of 
a  State  in  the  lower  branch  of  Congress  (12).     In  the 
case  of  a  vacancy  in  the  United  States  Senate  the  gov- 
ernor may  issue  a  writ  for  a  new  election  or  if  so  au- 
thorized by  the  legislature  may  make  a  temporary  ap- 
pointment to  last  until  the  people  fill  the  vacancy  by 
election  (162). 

(5)  It  is  the  duty  of  the  governor  to  check  hasty 
or  corrupt  or  unwise  legislation  by  interposing  his 
veto.     Experience  seems  to  prove  that  the  possession 
of  the  veto  power  enables  the  governor  to  exercise  a 
wholesome   restraint   upon   the   legislature,    and   ac- 
cordingly the  veto  power  is  given  to  him  in  all  the 
States  but  one. 


54         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

(6)  The  governor  performs  numerous  social  duties. 
He  opens  fairs,  dedicates  public  buildings,  presents 
diplomas  to  the  graduates  of  normal  schools  and  col- 
leges, and  honors  important  celebrations  and  meetings 
with  his  presence. 

The  Lieutenant-governor.  This  officer  serves  when 
the  governor  is  out  of  the  State  or  is  incapacitated  for 
duty.  He  is  ex  officio  president  of  the  Senate,  and 
when  a  vacancy  occurs  in  the  governorship  he  suc- 
ceeds to  the  office.  In  those  States  where  there  is  no 
lieutenant-governor  the  president  of  the  Senate 
usually  succeeds  to  the  governorship  in  case  of  a 
vacancy. 

The  Secretary  of  State  records  the  official  acts  of 
the  governor  and  files  the  laws  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature. He  has  charge  of  all  State  papers,  of  the 
journals  of  the  legislature,  and  of  the  historical  docu- 
ments, statuary,  paintings,  relics,  etc.,  owned  by  the 
State.  This  officer  may  properly  be  called  the  chief 
clerk  of  the  executive  department. 

The  State  comptroller  or  auditor  manages  the  finan- 
cial business  of  the  State.  He  prepares  plans  for  the 
improvement  and  management  of  revenue,  reports 
estimates  of  the  revenue  and  expenditure  of  the  State, 
and  enforces  the  prompt  collection  of  taxes.  He 
keeps  an  account  of  all  the  money  paid  into  the  treas- 
ury and  all  drawn  from  it.  Not  a  dollar  can  be  taken 
from  the  treasury  without  his  order.  As  a  rule  it  is 
his  duty  to  see  that  those  charged  with  the  collection 
of  revenue  of  the  State  are  responsible  persons  and 


THE  STATE  EXECUTIVE  55 

are  properly  bonded.  In  a  few  States  the  comptroller 
serves  on  one  or  more  State  boards. 

The  Stale  treasurer  has  in  his  keeping  the  money 
paid  into  the  State  treasury.  His  principal  duties 
are  to  receive  the  State  funds,  place  them  where  they 
will  be  safe,  and  pay  them  out  as  he  is  ordered  by  the 
comptroller.  Like  the  comptroller,  the  treasurer 
sometimes  serves  upon  State  boards. 

The  Attorney-general  is  the  law  officer  of  the  State. 
He  appears  in  court  for  the  State  and  when  any  execu- 
tive officer  needs  legal  advice  he  may  be  called  upon 
for  an  opinion. 

The  superintendent  of  public  instruction  stands  at 
the  head  of  the  public-school  system  of  the  State.  He 
reports  to  the  governor  or  to  the  legislature  the  con- 
dition of  educational  affairs  throughout  the  State, 
visits  teachers'  institutes  and  other  educational  meet- 
ings, and  delivers  lectures  upon  educational  topics,  in- 
spects schools,  suggests  methods  of  teaching  and 
courses  of  instruction  and  promotes  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation in  many  ways.  In  some  States  he  prescribes 
the  qualifications  of  teachers  and  issues  their  certifi- 
cates, and  supervises  the  distribution  of  the  school 
funds. 

The  above  officers  are  found  in  almost  every  State. 
The  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  are  always 
elected  by  the  people,  but  the  method  of  choosing  the 
others  varies;  sometimes  the  people  elect,  sometimes 
the  governor  appoints  and  sometimes  the  legislature 
elects. 


56         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

In  addition  to  these  principal  officers  we  find  in  the 
different  States  such  minor  officers  and  boards  as 
special  conditions  may  require.  The  titles  of  these 
suggest  the  nature  of  their  duties  and  may  be  men- 
tioned without  comment : 

State  insurance  commissioner;  State  librarian;  State  com- 
missioner of  agriculture;  State  inspector  of  mines;  State  com- 
missioner of  immigration;  State  surveyor;  State  tax  commis- 
sioner ;  State  fire  marshall ;  State  factory  inspector ;  State 
commissioner  of  fisheries;  State  dairy  inspector;  State  in- 
spector of  steam  boilers;  adjutant-general;  State  vaccine 
physician;  State  board  of  health;  State  board  of  education; 
State  board  of  medical  examiners ;  State  board  of  public  works ; 
State  board  of  dentistry;  State  board  of  railroad  commission- 
ers; State  highway  commission;  State  board  of  charities; 
State  board  of  pardons;  State  board  of  public  utilities. 

No  State  has  all  of  the  above  officers,  but  every 
State  has  a  few  of  them.  Besides  the  major  and 
minor  officials  that  have  been  mentioned  there  are  in 
the  service  of  the  State  such  assistants,  secretaries, 
clerks  and  employees  of  various  kinds  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  efficient  working  of  the  several  de- 
partments. 


CHAPTER  IX 

COUNTIES,   TOWNS,   AND  TOWNSHIPS 

ALTHOUGH  county  government  differs  as  we  go 
from  State  to  State  there  is  nevertheless  a  certain  uni- 
formity in  the  organization  of  counties  throughout 
the  Union.  The  official  outfit  of  a  typical  county  is  as 
follows : 

I.  The  Board  of  County  Commissioners  or  Super- 
visors. This  is  the  governing  body  of  the  county.  It 
consists  usually  of  three  or  more  members  who  serve 
for  a  term  varying  from  one  to  six  years.  It  holds 
its  sessions  at  the  county -seat,  where  all  the  county 
officials  have  offices.  Like  most  of  the  other  county 
officers  the  commissioners  are  elected  by  the  people. 
In  New  York,  and  in  several  of  the  western  States  the 
govern  ig  body  of  the  county — the  county  board  of 
superv  sors — consists  not  of  representatives  of  the 
people,  as  in  most  States,  but  of  representatives  of  the 
townships.  The  county  commissioners  (or  super- 
visors) usually  do  the  following  things: 

(1)  They  fix  the  rate  of  taxation  for  the  county. 

(2)  They  appoint  tax  assessors,  tax  collectors,  road 
supervisors,  and  other  subordinate  officials. 

(3)  They  make  contracts  for  repairing  old  roads 
and  opening  new  ones,  and  also  for  building  and  re- 
pairing bridges. 

57 


58         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

(4)  They  make  contracts  for  building  and  repair- 
ing public  buildings,  such  as  court-houses,  jails  and 
almshouses. 

(5)  They  appropriate  money  for  the  payment  of 
the  salaries  of  county  officers,  and  for  all  necessary 
expenses  of  county  government. 

(6)  They  represent  the  county  when  it  is  sued  for 
damages.     (All  local  governments  are  corporations  in 
some  respect  and  can  be  brought  into  court  to  defend 
a  suit  as  if  they  were  persons.) 

II.  The  Sheriff.     This  officer  has  been  called  the 
"arm  of  the  judge. "     If  the  judge  orders  a  man  to 
be  taken  to  prison,  or  orders  property  to  be  sold,  or 
sentences  a  man  to  be  hanged,  the  sheriff  executes  the 
command.     It  is  his  duty  also  to  preserve  peace  and 
order,  and  when  necessary  he  may  call  to  his  aid 
deputies.     In  times  of  great  danger  or  disturbance  he 
may  call  to  his  aid  the  posse  comitatus,  which  includes 
every  able-bodied  man  in  the  county.     The  sheriff 
usually  lives  at  the  county -seat  and  has  charge  of  the 
county  jail  and  its  prisoners. 

III.  The  Clerk  of  the  Circuit,  or  District  Court. 
Any  court  above  a  police  court,  or  above  that  of  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  is  a  "court  of  record";  that  is, 
its  proceedings  are  enrolled  in  permanent  form.     In 
every  county  there  is  a  court  of  record,  and  the  keeper 
of  its  records  is  the  clerk  of  the  court,  or  prothono- 
tary.     This  officer  often  keeps  a  record  of  deeds  and 
mortgages  given  in  the  county,  issues  marriage  certifi- 
cates, and  records  all  births  and  deaths. 

IV.  The  Prolate  Court— the  Orphans'  Court.    It 


COUNTIES,  TOWNS,  AND  TOWNSHIPS     59 

is  the  business  of  this  court  to  examine  the  wills  of 
deceased  persons  and  decide  whether  they  have  been 
made  as  wills  by  law,  ought  to  be  made.  When  a  per- 
son dies  without  having  made  a  will,  and  leaves  no  one 
to  take  charge  of  his  estate,  the  probate  court  will 
appoint  an  administrator  to  take  charge  of  it.  When 
a  child  is  left  without  father  or  mother,  the  probate 
court  will  appoint  a  guardian,  who  will  manage  the 
estate  until  the  child  comes  of  age.  In  general,  the 
business  of  the  probate  court  is  to  see  that  the  prop- 
erty of  the  dead  falls  into  rightful  hands.  In  some 
States  the  probate  court  is  called  the  orphans'  court. 
In  New  York  and  New  Jersey  it  is  called  the  surro- 
gate's court. 

V.  The  Recorder,  or  Register  keeps  a  record  of 
mortgages,  deeds  and  leases. 

VI.  Tax  Collectors  and  Assessors. 

VII.  The  County  Treasurer  pays  out  as  well  as  re- 
ceives all  money  raised  by  taxation. 

VIII.  The  Auditor.    Sometimes  the  county  elects 
an  auditor,  whose  duty  it  is  to  examine  the  books  of 
the  treasurer  and  other  officers  and  report  whether  the 
public  accounts  are  properly  and  honestly  kept. 

IX.  The  Coroner.     When  a  person  is  murdered, 
or  is  found  dead,  or  dies  mysteriously,  this  officer  takes 
charge  of  the  corpse  and  inquires  at  once  into  the 
cause  of  the  death.     If  he  thinks  there  has  been  foul 
play,  he  summons  six  or  twelve  men  to  act  as  a  jury 
and  holds  a  "coroner's  inquest."    Witnesses  are  sum- 
moned, and  the  jury  after  hearing  evidence,  states  the 
probable  cause  of  the  death. 


60         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

X.  The  State's  Attorney  is  a  lawyer  whose  duty  is 
to  give  legal  advice  to  county  officers,  and  to  appear 
in  court  at  the  trial  of  one  who  is  charged  with  crime 
and  present  the  side  of  the  State.  This  officer  is 
sometimes  called  a  district  attorney  or  prosecuting 
attorney ;  sometimes  he  is  called  the  solicitor. 

XL.  The  Superintendent  of  Schools  is  the  execu- 
tive officer  of  the  school  system  of  the  county.  He 
sets  the  examinations  for  teachers,  visits  the  different 
schools  of  the  county,  and  inspects  their  work.  He 
grades  the  work  of  the  schools  and  devotes  his  time  to 
improving  them  in  every  way  he  can. 

XII.  The  Surveyor  makes  surveys  of  land  when 
the  county  has  need  of  such. 

In  New  England,  in  the  Middle  States,  and  in  most 
of  the  States  of  the  West,  the  county  shares  the  busi- 
ness of  local  government  with  a  minor  civil  division 
known  as  the  town  or  township. 

In  New  England  a  most  important  unit  of  local 
government  is  the  town  and  the  central  fact  of  town 
government  is  the  town  meeting.  Once  a  year  all  the 
qualified  voters  of  the  town  meet  together  to  discuss 
measures  relating  to  town  affairs  and  take  action 
thereon.  At  the  town  meeting  the  rate  of  taxation  is 
fixed;  money  is  appropriated  for  the  necessary  ex- 
pense of  town  government;  by-laws  are  passed  for 
the  regulation  of  local  matters ;  and  town  officers  are 
elected.  The  most  important  town  officers  are:  the 
selectmen,  the  town  clerk,  the  town  treasurer,  asses- 
sors and  collectors  of  taxes  and  overseers  of  the  poor. 
The  selectmen  are  the  governing  body  in  the  town. 


COUNTIES,  TOWNS,  AND  TOWNSHIPS     61 

In  the  Middle  States  and  in  most  of  the  States  in 
the  West  the  county  shares  the  business  of  local  gov- 
ernment with  a  minor  civil  division  known  as  the 
township.  The  presence  of  townships  in  the  county 
results  in  a  compromise  system  of  local  government 
often  called  the  county -township  system.  Under  this 
system  the  county  government  attends  to  those  affairs 
which  interest  the  whole  body  of  the  people  of  the 
county,  while  the  township  administers  the  affairs  of 
a  small  area. 

The  township  has  been  found  to  be  an  institution 
of  great  convenience.  For  a  sparsely  settled  society 
the  county  is,  perhaps,  the  only  practicable  form  of 
government ;  but  as  population  increases  the  needs  of 
the  neighborhood  multiply,  and  many  of  these  needs 
are  such  as  can  be  attended  to  by  the  people  directly 
interested  if  they  only  have  the  power  granted  to 
them.  It  is  not  necessary  to  travel  twenty  miles  to 
the  county-seat  to  see  an  officer  about  the  repair  of  a 
washout  in  a  road,  or  about  the  purchase  of  a  stove 
for  a  school-house,  when  we  can  have  a  government 
near  at  hand  to  attend  to  such  things.  The  township 
has  been  introduced  as  an  agency  by  which  the  needs 
of  the  immediate  locality  may  be  attended  to. 

Especially  has  the  public  school  been  a  factor  in  the 
development  of  the  township  system.  Local  govern- 
ment in  the  South  developed  around  a  court-house, 
and  in  New  England  around  a  church ;  in  the  Middle 
States  and  in  the  West  it  developed  around  a  school- 
house.  Then,  too,  the  care  of  the  roads,  and  the  sup- 
port of  the  poor  are  services  that  may  most  conven- 


62         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

iently  be  rendered  by  the  neighborhood  government. 

The  powers  of  the  township  vary  slightly  in  the 
different  States,,  but  as  a  rule  where  the  county-town- 
ship system  prevails  the  township  (1)  supports  the 
public  schools,  (2)  cares  for  the  roads  and  (3)  helps 
the  poor,  leaving  other  matters  of  local  government  to 
the  county.  The  taxes  necessary  for  doing  these 
things  are  levied  by  township  authority. 

The  organization  of  township  government  differs 
greatly  as  we  pass  from  State  to  State.  In  some 
States,  as  in  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Iowa, 
Minnesota,  and  the  Dakotas,  there  is  at  the  head  of 
the  township  government  a  committee  or  a  board  of 
supervisors  or  trustees  consisting  of  several  persons, 
the  number  varying  from  three  to  eleven.  In  New 
York,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Mis- 
souri, Kansas  and  Oklahoma  there  is  at  the  head  of 
the  township  a  single  officer  known  as  the  supervisor, 
or  trustee.  In  Wisconsin  this  officer  is  known  as  the 
town  chairman.  These  supervisors  or  trustees  have 
general  charge  of  township  affairs,  although  their 
powers  and  duties  vary  considerably  as  we  pass  from 
State  to  State. 

Besides  the  head  executive  officers  (or  officer)  there 
is  usually  a  township  clerk  who  keeps  the  records  of 
the  township ;  a  township  assessor ;  a  township  auditor 
who  examines  the  accounts  of  the  township ;  a  justice 
of  the  peace ;  one  or  more  constables ;  overseers  of  the 
poor;  and  election  officers.  In  most  instances  town- 
ship officers  are  elected  by  the  people. 


CHAPTER  X 

MUNICIPALITIES 

MUNICIPAL  corporations  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes.  In  the  first  class  may  be  included  all  those 
chartered  communities,  that  have  a  simple  form  of 
organization,  limited  local  powers,  and  a  small  popu- 
lation, although  population  of  itself  is  an  untrust- 
worthy guide  for  their  classification.  Such  communi- 
ties bear  different  names  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  In  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania they  are  called  boroughs.  In  the  Southern 
States  they  are  generally  called  towns,  while  in  the 
West  they  are  usually  known  as  villages.  In  Indiana,, 
Iowa  and  Colorado  they  are  called  towns. 

The  organization  and  powers  of  a  village  (or  town, 
or  borough)  do  not  differ  widely  in  the  different 
States.  Most  of  the  officers  are  elected  by  the  voters 
of  the  village.  The  governing  body  consists  of  a 
president,  or  mayor,  or  chief  burgess,  and  a  body  of 
three  or  more  trustees  or  burgesses  or  commissioners. 
In  addition  to  these  there  is  always  a  clerk,  and  fre- 
quently a  treasurer,  tax  collector,  a  constable,  a  justice 
of  the  peace  and  a  board  of  street  commissioners. 
The  village  government  usually  renders  the  following: 
services : 

63 


64         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

(1)  It  keeps  the  peace. 

(2)  It  holds  a  court  for  the  trial  of  minor  civil  and 
criminal  cases. 

(3)  It  keeps  the  streets  in  order  and  provides  good 
sidewalks. 

(4)  It  lights  the  streets. 

(5)  It  furnishes  a  supply  of  water. 

(6)  It  supports  the  public  schools. 

(7)  It  cares  for  the  public  health. 

(8)  It  purchases  apparatus  for  the  extinguishing 
of  fires. 

The  second  class  of  municipalities  is  the  cities.  A 
city  is  almost  always  an  enlarged  town  or  village,  and 
in  outward  appearance  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish a  small  city  from  a  large  town,  although  be- 
tween the  governments  of  the  two  there  is  a  sharp 
difference.  The  government  of  the  city  is  more  com- 
plex than  that  of  town,  its  powers  are  greater,  its 
officers  are  more  numerous,  and  its  local  independence 
is  more  clearly  defined.  At  what  point  in  its  growth 
a  town  or  village  shall  cast  off  its  simple  organization 
and  assume  the  dignity  of  cityhood  depends  upon 
State  law.  In  many  States  a  place  must  have  ten 
thousand  or  more  inhabitants  before  it  is  entitled  to 
the  privileges  of  a  city,  while  in  other  States  we  find 
cities  with  less  than  three  thousand  inhabitants. 

There  are  two  well  defined  types  of  city  government 
in  the  United  States,  the  council  system  and  the 
commission  system. 

The  Council  System.  In  most  American  cities  the 
municipal  power  is  divided  and  given  to  a  city  council 


MUNICIPALITIES  65 

—or  board  of  aldermen — and  a  mayor,  the  council 
exercising  the  legislative  power,  and  the  mayor  ex- 
ercising the  executive  power.  This  organization  is 
usually  known  as  the  council  system. 

The  organization  of  the  city  council  varies  with 
the  temper  of  State  legislatures  and  with  the  theories 
of  municipal  reformers.  It  is  always  a  representative 
body  and  its  members  are  usually  elected  from 
municipal  divisions  known  as  wards.  In  a  very 
few  cities  the  council  consists  of  two  branches;  in 
others  it  consists  of  a  single  body.  The  term  of 
office  of  a  councilman — or  alderman — is  some- 
times as  short  as  one  year  but  it  is  never  longer 
than  four  years.  The  council  as  the  legislature  of 
the  city  regulates  the  almost  innumerable  activities 
of  the  city  government.  A  perusal  of  its  proceedings 
as  reported  in  the  daily  newspapers  will  show  how 
closely  its  actions  are  connected  with  the  daily  life  of 
the  urban  resident.  Its  laws,  called  ordinances,  af- 
fect profoundly  the  health,  safety,  peace,  comfort, 
prosperity,  intelligence  and  morality  of  the  city. 

In  cities  where  the  council  system  prevails  the 
executive  power  is  vested  in  a  mayor  who  is  elected 
by  the  voters  for  a  term  varying  from  one  to  four 
years.  The  powers  and  duties  of  the  mayor  within 
the  city  are  comparable  to  those  of  the  governor  within 
the  State.  The  chief  duty  of  the  mayor  is  to  cany 
into  effect  the  laws  affecting  the  municipality.  Asso- 
ciated with  the  mayor  in  the  executive  branch  of  a 
large  city,  there  are  numerous  heads  of  departments 
and  boards.  Some  of  these  are  elected  by  the  people, 


66         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

others  are  appointed  by  the  mayor;  in  a  few  States 
some  of  them  (for  example,  the  police  and  health 
commissioners)  are  appointed  by  the  governor,  or  by 
the  State  legislature.  Serving  under  these  chiefs  and 
boards  are  assistants  and  employees,  the  number  of 
whom  increases  with  the  size  of  the  city,  and  some- 
times consists  of  many  thousands.  A  well  organized 
city  will  usually  have  such  departments  and  officers 
and  boards  as  are  indicated  by  the  following  outline : 

(1)  Department  of  Finance:  comptroller,  board  of 
estimates,  collector  of  taxes. 

(2)  Department  of  Law:  city  solicitor,  or  attorney. 

(3)  Department  of  Public  Safety:  board  of  fire 
commissioners,  commissioner  of  health,  inspector  of 
buildings,  commissioner  of  streets. 

(4)  Department  of  Public  Improvement:  city  en- 
gineer, water  board,  inspector  of  boilers. 

(5)  Department  of  Parks  and  Squares:  board  of 
park  commissioners. 

(6)  Department   of    Education:    board    of   school 
commissioners,  superintendent  of  schools. 

(7)  Department  of  Charities  and  Correction:  trus- 
tees of  the  poor,  supervisors  of  city  charities. 

(8)  Department  of  Taxes  and  Assessment:  court 
of  taxes  and  assessment. 

(9)  Board  of  Police  Commissioners. 

(10)  Miscellaneous:  city  librarian,  superintendent 
of  lamps  and  lighting,  surveyor,  constables,  superin- 
tendent of  public  buildings,  public  printer. 

In  every  large  city  there  is  a  system  of  courts  ex- 
tending from  the  police  or  magistrate  court  up  to  the 


MUNICIPALITIES  67 

higher  courts,  but  the  judges  of  these  courts,  although 
they  may  be  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city,  are  not 
strictly  officers  of  the  municipal  government.  Justice 
is  administered  in  the  name  of  the  State,  and  the  judi- 
cial department  of  a  city  is  merely  a  portion  of  the 
State  judiciary  acting  within  the  borders  of  the  city. 
Appeals  from  courts  of  the  city  are  taken  to  the 
supreme  court  of  the  State. 

The  Commission  System.  In  many  of  our  cities  the 
municipal  power  both  legislative  and  executive  is 
vested  in  a  single  body,  usually  known  as  a  commis- 
sion, although  this  body  is  sometimes  called  the  city 
council.  This  system  of  municipal  organization 
originated  in  Galveston  after  the  great  inundation  of 
1900.  The  success  of  Galveston  with  the  commission 
system  led  to  its  adoption  in  other  cities.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  more  than  400  cities  are  governed  by  the 
commission  plan.  Under  the  commission  system  the 
governing  body  usually  consists  of  five  commission- 
ers (or  councilmen)  elected  by  the  voters  of  the  city 
at  large,  there  being  no  ward  lines  recognized  in  the 
selection  or  in  the  election  of  this  commission.  Party 
lines  as  well  as  ward  lines  are  disregarded  in  the  elec- 
tion of  the  commission,  for  candidates  are  nominated 
without  the  aid  of  party  machinery  and  the  election  is 
conducted  without  regard  to  partisan  results.  One 
member  of  the  commission  is  the  mayor  who  presides 
at  the  meetings  of  the  commission  (council)  but  who 
has  no  power  to  veto  any  measure.  The  commission 
passes  the  ordinances  for  the  government  and  ad- 
ministration of  the  city  and  also  carries  the  ordinances 


68         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

into  effect.  The  executive  and  administrative  author- 
ity and  duties  are  distributed  among  several  depart- 
ments. These  departments  are  usually  five  in  num- 
ber and  are  known  as  (1)  the  department  of  public 
affairs,  (2)  the  department  of  accounts  and  finances, 
(3)  the  department  of  public  safety,  (4)  the  depart- 
ment of  streets  and  public  improvements,  and  (5) 
the  department  of  parks  and  public  property.  At 
the  head  of  each  of  these  departments  is  placed  one 
of  the  members  of  the  commission,  who  is  the  super- 
intendent of  his  department  and  who  is  responsible 
for  its  workings.  The  mayor,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  is 
the  superintendent  of  the  department  of  public  affairs. 
The  superintendents  of  the  other  four  departments  are 
designated  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  commission  itself. 
All  city  offices  such  as  the  city  clerk,  the  solicitor,  the 
assessor,  the  treasurer,  the  auditor,  the  chief  of  the 
fire  department  and  the  like,  are  appointed  by  the 
commission. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  under  the  commission  plan  very- 
great  power  is  lodged  in  a  small  body  of  men.  But 
the  commission  (council)  is  not  likely  often  to  abuse 
its  power  for  wherever  the  commission  system  has 
been  installed  the  people  have  usually  reserved  for 
themselves  the  powers  residing  in  the  initiative  and 
referendum,  and  in  the  recall.  Where  these  devices 
are  in  operation  the  commission  is  held  directly  re- 
sponsible and  accountable  to  the  electorate. 

A  considerable  number  of  cities  have  adopted  a 
form  of  government  known  as  the  city  manager  plan. 
This  has  for  its  aim  a  greater  concentration  of  the 


MUNICIPALITIES  69 

executive  authority  than  that  provided  by  the  com- 
mission form.  Where  the  city  manager  plan  has 
been  adopted  the  entire  administration  of  the  affairs 
of  the  city  is  entrusted  to  a  single  officer — the  city 
manager — appointed  by  an  elective-  commission  or 
council.  The  power  of  the  city  manager  sometimes 
[or]  in  some  cases  extends  even  to  the  appointment 
of  all  the  city  officers  and  employees;  the  activities 
of  the  council  being  confined  strictly  to  the  passage  of 
ordinances. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   TERRITORIES  AND   DEPENDENCIES  OF   THE 
UNITED   STATES 

ALL  territory  not  included  within  the  boundaries 
of  a  State,  yet  subject  to  the  dominion  of  the  United 
States,  is  wholly  dependent  upon  Congress  for  its 
governmental  powers  (119).  This  is  a  fundamental 
principle  underlying  all  questions  relating  to  the 
government  of  territory  subject  to  the  sovereignty  of 
the  United  States  and  not  included  within  a  State. 

When  planning  for  the  government  of  federal  terri- 
tory from  time  to  time,  Congress  has  dealt  with  each 
case  according  to  its  merits.  Now  it  has  permitted  a 
newly  acquired  possession  to  enter  into  an  immediate 
enjoyment  of  statehood ;  now  it  has  provided  liberally 
for  local  self-government;  now  it  has  held  the  reins 
of  government  tightly  in  its  own  hands.  This  policy 
of  giving  to  each  community  a  government  suitable  to 
its  needs  has  led  to  the  establishment  of  so  many  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  governments  in  the  Territories  and 
Dependencies  that  a  satisfactory  classification  of  them 
cannot  be  made.  Nevertheless,  the  inferior  govern- 
ments may  be  conveniently  studied  under  two  head- 
ings, namely:  (1)  Territories  and  Dependencies  on 
the  American  Continent,  and  (2)  Insular  Territories 
and  Dependencies. 

70 


TERRITORIES  AND  DEPENDENCIES      71 

The  Territories  and  Dependencies  on  the  American 
Continent  are:  The  District  of  Columbia,  ceded  to 
the  United  States  by  Maryland  in  1790  as  the  perma- 
nent seat  of  the  Federal  Government;  Alaska,  pur- 
chased from  Russia  in  1866 ;  Indian  Reservations  and 
National  Parks;  the  Panama  Canal  Strip. 

I.  The  District  of  Columbia.  The  government  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  is,  by  the  Constitution, 
vested  exclusively  in  Congress  (61).  Several  methods 
of  governing  the  District  had  been  tried  when  in  1878 
Congress  established  the  present  form  of  government. 
The  District  is  governed  by  a  board  of  three  com- 
missioners appointed  by  the  President.  Two  of  the 
commissioners  must  be  appointed  from  civil  life,  and 
one  must  be  an  officer  of  the  army.  This  board  exer- 
cises not  only  the  executive  power,  but  acts  in  many 
respects  as  a  legislature,  Its  reasonable  regulations 
in  respect  to  matters  affecting  the  life,  health  and  com- 
fort of  the  people  have  the  force  of  laws.  Although 
Washington — the  District  of  Columbia  is  but  another 
name  for  the  city  of  Washington — has  no  distinct 
legislature  of  its  own,  it  nevertheless  enjoys  the  serv- 
ices of  the  greatest  legislative  body  of  the  country, 
for  Congress  keeps  its  eye  upon  the  affairs  of  the 
District  and  devotes  certain  days  to  the  consideration 
of  District  business.  When  legislating  for  the  Dis- 
trict, Congress  acts  as  a  city  council,  and  visitors  to 
the  Capitol  may  hear  senators  and  representatives 
discussing  topics  of  local  government  as  the  repair- 
ing the  streets  or  the  regulation  of  trolley  lines  or  the 
adjustment  of  teachers'  salaries. 


72    THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

The  judicial  system  of  the  District  consists  of  a 
court  of  appeals,  a  regular  trial  court  called  the 
supreme  court,  and  a  police  court  for  the  trial  of 
petty  offenses  and  municipal  regulations.  Justices  of 
the  peace  are  provided  for  the  trial  of  certain  kinds 
of  civil  cases.  All  these  judicial  officers  are  appointed 
by  the  President. 

The  District  of  Columbia  has  no  delegate  in  Con- 
gress, and  no  provision  whatever  has  been  made  for 
the  expression  of  the  popular  will  in  a  law-making 
body.  The  inhabitants  of  the  District  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States. 

II.  Alaska.  After  neglecting  this  region  for  a 
long  time  Congress  at  last,  in  1900,  provided  for  it  a 
code  of  laws  and  a  suitable  form  of  government.  In 
1912  Congress  vested  the  legislative  power  of  the 
Territory  of  Alaska  in  an  elective  Legislature  consist- 
ing of  a  senate  and  a  house  of  representatives.  The 
governor  of  the  Territory  is  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent. The  governor  has  the  veto  power  but  his  veto 
may  be  over-ruled  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  the 
members  of  each  house.  All  laws  passed  by  the  Terri- 
torial legislature  must  be  transmitted  by  the  governor 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  by  him  sub- 
mitted to  Congress.  If  a  law  of  the  Territorial  Legis- 
lature is  disapproved  by  Congress  it  becomes  null  and 
void.  In  addition  to  the  governor,  Alaska  has  as  its 
other  executive  officers  a  secretary  of  territory,  a 
treasurer,  and  a  superintendent  of  education.  The 
Territory  is  divided  into  four  judicial  divisions  with 
a  judge  for  en  eh  division. 


TERRITORIES  AND  DEPENDENCIES     73 

Alaska  has  a  territorial  delegate  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  at  Washington.  The  delegate  is  the 
political  tie  which  binds  the  Territory  to  the  federal 
government.  The  territorial  delegate  is  elected  every 
two  years  by  popular  vote.  He  has  a  right  to  a  seat 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  receives  the  same 
salary  as  other  members  of  Congress.  He  serves  on 
committees  and  may  speak  on  all  questions  pertaining 
to  his  Territory,  but  he  has  no  vote. 

III.  Indian  Reservations  and  National  Parks.  In 
the  management  of  the  territory  that  has  been  under 
its  control  the  National  government  has  from  time 
to  time  marked  off  and  reserved  certain  lands  for  the 
use  of  the  Indians.  Scattered  over  the  country  there 
are  in  all  about  150  of  these  Indian  reservations. 
Some  of  them  have  a  very  large  area.  The  Navajo 
reservation  in  Arizona  has  an  area  considerably  larger 
than  the  State  of  Maryland.  An  Indian  reservation 
is  a  kind  of  Dependency  of  the  United  States.  The 
tribes  living  on  a  reservation  are  under  the  control 
of  Congress.  The  National  government  protects  the 
Indians  on  the  reservation  against  injustice  at  the 
hands  of  the  white  man,  gives  them  food  supplies,  and 
supports  schools  among  them.  The  interests  of  the 
Indians  on  the  reservations  are  looked  after  by  the 
Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs,  one  of  the  bureaus  in  the 
Department  of  the  Interior. 

In  the  management  of  its  public  domain  the 
National  government  has  also  set  off  several  large 
tracts  of  land  to  be  used  as  parks.  These  national 
parks  are  in  some  instances  of  vast  extent.  The  Yel- 


74         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

lowstone  National  Park  has  an  area  nearly  half  as 
great  as  that  of  Massachusetts. 

IV.  The  Panama  Canal  Strip.  This  consists  of  a 
zone  of  land  of  the  width  of  ten  miles,  extending  to 
the  distance  of  five  miles  on  each  side  of  the  central 
line  of  the  route  of  the  Panama  Canal.  The  region 
has  been  placed  under  the  control  of  a  governor  who 
is  appointed  by  the  President.  The  canal  itself  is 
absolutely  neutral,  being  free  and  open  to  the  vessels 
of  commerce  and  war  of  all  nations.  The  toll  rates 
on  the  canal  are  the  same  for  the  vessels  of  all  nations 
and  the  vessels  of  no  nation,  not  even  those  of  the 
United  States,  are  exempted  from  the  payment  of 
tolls.  It  is  provided  by  treaties  that  the  canal  shall 
never  be  blockaded  and  that  no  act  of  hostility  shall 
ever  be  committed  in  it.  Warships  must  pass  through 
the  canal  with  the  least  possible  delay  and  no  bellig- 
erent vessel  while  in  the  canal  may  embark  or  dis- 
embark troops  or  munitions  of  war. 

The  Insular  Territories  and  Dependencies  are: 
Hawaii,  annexed  by  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress 
in  1898  (July  7)  ;  Porto  Rico,  occupied  July  25, 
1898,  by  military  forces  of  the  United  States  under 
General  Miles;  the  Philippine  Islands,  occupied 
August  13,  1898,  by  military  forces  under  Admiral 
Dewey;  Guam,  seized  by  the  United  States  navy 
during  the  war  with  Spain  in  1898 ;  the  Virgin  Islands 
acquired  from  Denmark  in  1917. 

I.  Hawaii.  The  Hawaiian  Islands  are  governed 
under  the  name  of  "The  Territory  of  Hawaii"  by  an 
act  of  Congress  passed  in  1900.  This  act  provides 


TERRITORIES  AND  DEPENDENCIES     75 

that  the  Territory  shall  have  a  properly  elected  legis- 
lature of  two  houses.  The  powers  of  the  territorial 
legislature  are  similar  to  those  of  a  State  legislature. 
A  law  of  the  territorial  legislature  can  be  annulled  by 
Congress.  The  executive  power  of  the  Territory  is 
vested  in  a  governor  appointed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  for  a  term  of  four  years.  The  powers 
and  duties  of  the  Governor  correspond  very  closely 
to  those  of  a  governor  of  a  State.  Other  executive 
officers  provided  for  are  a  secretary  of  the  Territory, 
an  attorney-general,  a  treasurer,  a  commissioner  of 
public  works,  a  superintendent  of  public  instruction, 
a  surveyor  and  an  auditor.  These  are  appointed  by 
the  governor  of  the  Territory  and  confirmed  by  the 
territorial  senate.  The  judicial  power  of  the  territory 
is  vested  in  a  supreme  court  and  in  circuit  courts. 
The  judges  of  both  the  supreme  court  and  of  the 
circuit  courts  are  appointed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  The  legislature  is  empowered  to  pro- 
vide for  Hawaii  a  system  of  local  government  con- 
sisting of  counties,  towns  and  municipalities.  Hawaii, 
like  Alaska,  has  a  Delegate  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. The  inhabitants  of  Hawaii  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States. 

II.  Porto  Rico.  The  organic  act  establishing  the 
present  government  of  the  island  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress in  1917.  The  act  contains  a  bill  of  rights  which 
accords  to  the  citizens  of  Porto  Rico  civil  rights  similar 
to  those  enjoyed  by  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
Legislative  power  in  the  island  is  vested  in  a  legisla- 
ture consisting  of  a  senate  and  a  house  of  representa- 


76         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

lives.  Both  senators  and  representatives  are  elected 
by  the  voters.  A  law  passed  by  the  legislature  may 
be  vetoed  by  the  governor  but  the  veto  may  be  over- 
ruled, and  if  it  is  overruled  the  law  is  sent  to  the 
President  for  approval  or  disapproval.  The  executive 
power  in  the  island  is  vested  in  a  governor  appointed 
by  the  President.  The  President  also  appoints  an  at- 
torney general  and  a  commissioner  of  education.  A 
treasurer,  a  commissioner  of  the  interior,  a  commis- 
sioner of  agriculture  and  labor  and  a  commissioner 
of  health  are  appointed  by  the  governor. 

The  judicial  system  of  the  island  consists  of  a 
Supreme  Court  composed  of  judges  appointed  for  life 
or  good  behavior  by  the  President ;  of  district  courts 
presided  over  by  judges  appointed  by  the  governor; 
and  of  municipal  courts  whose  judges  are  elected  by 
the  people. 

The  organic  act  for  Porto  Rico  provides  that  the 
voters  of  the  island  every  two  years  shall  elect  a 
commissioner,  who  shall  be  entitled  to  official  recog- 
nition as  such  by  all  the  departments  at  Washington. 
This  commissioner  in  the  intention  of  the  law  is 
plainly  not  a  delegate,  yet  by  the  grace  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  he  has  been  accorded  the  right  to 
speak  in  that  body  and  to  serve  on  its  committees. 
For  all  practical  purposes,  therefore,  he  is  in  reality  at 
territorial  Delegate,  although  Porto  Rico  can  hardly 
be  said  to  be  a  Territory,  for  it  is  not  a  part  of  the 
United  States.  Under  the  act  of  1917  inhabitants  of 
Porto  Rico  not  citizens  of  a  foreign  country  were  de- 
clared to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States. 


TERRITORIES  AND  DEPENDENCIES     77 

III.  The  Philippine  Islands.  Congress  has  given 
to  the  Filipinos  the  form  of  government  which  has 
seemed  best  suited  to  their  needs,  changing  the  form 
from  time  to  time  as  conditions  on  the  islands  have 
changed.  At  present  (1918)  the  legislative  power  in 
the  Philippines  is  vested  in  the  Philippine  Legislature, 
which  consists  of  two  houses,  a  senate  and  a  house  of 
representatives.  Both  senators  and  representatives 
are  elected  by  the  qualified  voters.  The  members  of 
both  houses  of  the  Legislature  must  be  residents  of  the 
islands.  Any  law  enacted  by  the  Legislature  must  be 
affirmed  by  the  Governor  General,  who  may  veto 
a  law,  but  whose  veto  may  be  overruled  by  the  Legis- 
lature. A  law  passed  over  the  head  of  the  Governor 
General  is  sent  to  the  President  for  approval  or  dis- 
approval. If  the  President  approves  it  becomes  a 
law;  if  not,  it  does  not  become  a  law.  The  executive 
power  in  the  island  is  vested  in  the  Governor  General 
of  the  Philippine  Islands,  an  officer  appointed  by  the 
President. 

The  Philippine  Islands  have  no  delegate  in  Con- 
gress, yet  they  are  permitted  to  send  to  Washington 
two  commissioners  who  appear  before  the  committees 
of  Congress  and  represent  the  interests  of  the  Islands. 

The  judicial  system  of  the  Islands  includes  a  su- 
preme court,  consisting  of  a  chief  justice  and  six 
associate  justices,  courts  of  general  trial  for  the  prov- 
inces, and  justices'  courts  for  the  municipalities. 
The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  are  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  but  the  judges  of  the 
provincial  courts  and  the  justices  of  the  peace  are 


78         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  island.  Cases  may 
be  carried  by  appeal  from  the  supreme  court  of  the 
island  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

IV.  Guam  and  Samoa  (Tutuila).     Governmental 
power  in  these  islands  is  vested  in  the  naval  officers 
who  happen  to  be  in  command  of  the  naval  station. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  in 
a  large  degree  govern  themselves.     At  times,   how- 
ever, it  is  necessary  for  the  naval  officer  to  interpose 
his  authority,  and  upon  such  occasions  his  orders  have 
the  force  of  laws. 

V.  The  Virgin  Islands.     These  islands,  purchased 
(in  1917)  from  Denmark  and  acquired  as  a  base  for 
naval  operations,  are  under  the  direct  control  of  the 
Navy  Department. 


CHAPTER  XII 

PARTY   ORGANIZATION 

IN  almost  every  township,  village,  election  district, 
and  city  ward,  each  of  the  great  parties  has  its  perma- 
nent local  committee  of  management.  Likewise  it 
has  its  permanent  county,  city  and  State  committees. 
Above  all  these  it  has  a  permanent  National  Commit- 
tee, consisting  of  one  member  from  each  of  the  States. 
and  Territories. 

These  permanent  committees  do  the  heavy  work  of 
politics.  Indeed,  they  do  all  the  work  of  politics  ex- 
cept the  voting.  They  issue  calls  for  the  nominating 
conventions  to  be  described  below;  they  organize  po- 
litical clubs ;  they  arrange  for  political  mass  meetings 
and  processions;  they  solicit  funds  for  conducting 
campaigns;  they  urge  voters  to  register,  and  then 
urge  them  to  come  to  the  polls;  in  many  other  ways 
they  promote  and  defend  the  interests  of  the  party, 
through  good  and  ill  report,  after  defeat  as  well  as 
after  success. 

The  chief  task  of  the  permanent  committees  is  to 
keep  the  nominating  machinery  of  the  party  in  mo- 
tion. The  nomination  of  candidates  is  accomplished 
in  two  ways,  by  the  direct  vote  of  the  members  of  the 
party,  and  by  the  action  of  party  conventions.  Under 

79 


80         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

the  plan  of  direct  nominations  the  voters  go  to  a  pri- 
mary meeting,  which  is  managed  in  practically  the 
same  way  as  a  regular  election,  and  vote  directly  for 
the  candidates  whom  they  wish  to  represent  their 
party  at  the  next  election.  In  other  words,  under 
the  direct  system  the  voters  select  their  own  party 
candidates ;  they  do  not  entrust  the  selection  to  party 
representatives,  or  to  the  action  of  party  conventions. 
When  county  officers,  for  example,  are  to  be  nomi- 
nated, the  voters  of  a  party,  instead  of  electing  dele- 
gates to  a  county  convention  authorized  to  nominate 
these  officers,  express  their  choice  for  candidates  at 
primary  elections  held  throughout  the  county,  and  the 
candidates  who  win  at  the  primaries  are  put  on  the 
ticket  as  the  regular  party  nominees.  If  a  candidate 
for  governor  is  to  be  chosen  the  voters  of  the  party 
throughout  the  State  express  their  choice  at  the 
primaries  and  the  person  most  in  favor  at  the  pri- 
maries becomes  the  regular  party  candidate  for  gov- 
ernor. 

The  direct  method  of  nominating  candidates  has 
been  adopted  by  a  majority  of  the  States  and  in  many 
States  it  extends  to  the  nomination  of  all  candidates, 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 

In  some  of  the  States  candidates  for  the  higher 
offices  are  nominated  by  the  conventions  composed  of 
party  representatives  or  delegates.  Under  this  system 
a  candidate  for  sheriff  for  example  is  nominated  at  a 
county  convention  composed  of  delegates  chosen  at 
primary  meetings  which  have  been  held  throughout 
the  county.  When  a  candidate  for  a  State  office  is 


PARTY  ORGANIZATION  81 

to  be  nominated  as,  for  example,  a  candidate  for 
governor,  the  county  (or  city)  conventions  through- 
out the  State  send  delegates  to  a  State  convention 
which  nominates  the  candidates  for  governor. 

Party  organization  in  the  United  States  was  built 
up  while  men  were  finding  a  way  to  nominate  a  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency  and  the  Presidential  nomina- 
tion is  still  the  central  object  of  party  activity.  Since 
this  is  so,  party  organization  may  be  best  understood 
by  following  the  workings  of  a  party  in  a  presidential 
year. 

In  the  States  which  have  adopted  the  plan  of  direct 
nomination  each  of  the  great  parties  by  a  direct  vote 
of  its  members  elect  delegates  to  the  National  Conven- 
tion which  nominates  the  party  candidates  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President.  In  a  few  States  at  the  pri- 
maries at  which  these  delegates  are  chosen  the  voters 
are  given  an  opportunity  to  express  their  preference 
in  respect  to  presidential  candidates. 

The  meetings  and  conventions  in  states  where  the 
convention  system  is  in  operation  will  now  be  de- 
scribed. 

I.  The  Primary  or  Caucus.  In  the  spring  of  a 
presidential  year  the  permanent  local  committees  of 
the  lowest  grade,  in  response  to  an  order  which  has 
come  down  to  them  through  the  State  committee  from 
the  National  Committee,  call  upon  the  voters  of  the 
party  within  the  town  or  election  precinct  or  ward,  to 
take  action  in  a  primary  meeting — sometimes  called  a 
caucus — upon  matters  relating  to  the  nomination  of  a 
candidate  for  President.  At  this  Primary  meeting 


82         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

delegates  to  a  county  (or  city)  convention  are  elected. 
For  many  years  the  primary,  like  the  entire  party  or- 
ganization, was  an  extralegal,  voluntary  institution. 
It  was  controlled  by  rules  made  by  party  managers 
and  whether  it  was  conducted  honestly  or  otherwise 
was  not  an  affair  of  governmental  concern.  If  at  the 
primary  election  there  was  cheating  or  irregularities 
no  one  could  be  punished.  But  in  recent  years,  in 
most  of  the  States,  primaries  have  been  placed  under 
the  control  of  the  law  and  have  been  conducted  as 
regularly  and  as  honestly  as  other  elections  are  con- 
ducted. 

II.  The  County  (or  City)  Convention.    The  dele- 
gates chosen  at  the  local  primary  are  sometimes  in- 
structed to  act  in  the  interest  of  a  certain  man  as  the 
party  candidate  for  President,  and  sometimes  they  are 
left  free  to  act  as  their  judgments  direct.     In  a  short 
time    after    the    primary    election    they    assemble 
(usually  at  the  county-seat)  as  the  county  convention 
of  the  party  which  they  represent.     This  body,  con- 
sisting perhaps  of  forty  or  fifty  men,  elects  three  or 
four  or  five  delegates  to  represent  the  party  in  a 
State  convention.     If  the  county  convention  is  in  fa- 
vor of  a  certain  man  for  President  it  may  instruct 
these  delegates  for  this  man  in  the  State  convention. 

III.  The  State  Convention.    A  few  weeks  after  the 
county  convention,   delegates  from   all  the  counties 
(and  cities1)   assemble  at  some  convenient  place  as 

i  In  a  city  each  ward  in  primary  meeting  sends  delegates  to 
a  city  convention  and  this  body  elects  delegates  to  the  State 
convention  to  meet  with  the  delegates  from  the  counties. 


PARTY  ORGANIZATION  83 

the  State  convention  of  the  party.  This  body,  con- 
sisting sometimes  of  several  hundred  men,  passes  reso- 
lutions expressing  the  political  views  of  the  party  in 
the  State,  names  its  choice  for  presidential  candidate 
— if  it  happens  to  have  a  choice — and  elects  delegates 
to  a  National  Convention,  the  number  of  delegates 
allotted  to  each  State  being  twice  the  number  of  its 
representatives  in  both  Houses  of  Congress.2  Some- 
times it  also  selects  candidates  for  presidential  elec- 
tors. Although  the  men  in  this  convention  are  sev- 
eral degrees  removed  from  the  voting  mass,  yet  if  the 
sentiment  at  the  primaries  is  pronounced  and  def- 
inite it  will  find  expression  in  the  State  convention. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  voters  at  the  primaries 
give  no  direct  indication  of  their  will  the  delegates 
in  the  higher  conventions  must  act  according  to  their 
judgment. 

IV.  The  National  Convention.  In  June  or  July, 
all  the  State  conventions  having  been  held,  the  dele- 
gates from  the  States  (and  Territories)  assemble  as 
the  great  National  Convention.  This  body,  consist- 
ing of  more  than  a  thousand  men,  meets  in  some  con- 
venient city,  and  after  several  days  of  discussion, 
expresses  the  views  of  the  party  upon  public  ques- 

In  some  States  the  delegates  elected  at  the  city  primaries  go 
straight  to  the  State  convention  or  to  a  congressional  district 
convention. 

2  In  most  of  the  States  the  State  convention  elects  only 
four  delegates  (called  delegates  at  large)  to  the  National  Con- 
vention, the  other  delegates  being  elected  at  congressional  dis- 
trict conventions,  two  delegates  being  chosen  from  each  dis- 
trict. Where  this  is  the  practice  the  district  convention  se- 
lects a  candidate  for  presidential  elector. 


84         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

tions  in  the  shape  of  a  platform  and  chooses  candi- 
dates for  President  and  Vice-President. 

After  all  the  political  parties  have  named  their 
candidates  the  struggle  for  election  begins.  Political 
meetings  are  held,  the  claims  of  the  candidates  are 
urged,  the  platforms  are  explained  and  defended,  and 
everything  that  can  be  done  to  influence  voters  is 
done. 

The  campaign,  with  all  its  faults,  is  a  most  whole- 
some element  in  our  public  life.  It  is  the  school-time 
of  democracy.  By  it,  men's  attention  is  strongly  at- 
tracted to  public  affairs,  civic  spirit  is  awakened,  and 
voters  are  educated.  The  greatest  objection  to  length- 
ening the  presidential  term  is  that  to  do  so  would  be 
to  deprive  the  people  of  the  great  educational  advan- 
tage of  frequent  presidential  campaigns. 

The  campaign  continues  until  the  election  day, 
the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  No- 
vember, when  the  voters  render  their  decision. 
They  do  not  vote  for  a  President  directly,  but  for 
electors  as  the  Constitution  provides  (146).  Since 
these  electors  are  nominated  and  elected  by  a  party 
they  are  morally  bound  to  vote  for  the  candidate  of 
the  party  which  elected  them,  and  no  elector  has  ever 
proved  unfaithful  to  the  party  that  elected  him.  The 
President  is,  therefore,  really  elected  at  the  polls. 

The  electors  chosen  in  November  meet  in  their  re- 
spective States  on  the  second  Wednesday  in  Jan- 
uary and  vote  for  President  and  Vice-President. 
The  results  of  this  vote  are  despatched  from  the 
several  States  to  the  President  of  the  Senate 


PARTY  ORGANIZATION  85 

at  Washington  and  on  the  second  Wednesday  in 
February  Congress  meets  to  count  the  votes.  The 
person  receiving  the  majority  of  the  votes  cast  for 
President  is  declared  to  be  elected,  and  the  person 
receiving  the  majority  of  the  votes  cast  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent  is  declared  to  be  elected.  When  no  person  re- 
ceives a  majority  of  all  the  electoral  votes,  the  Con- 
stitution provides  that  the  House  of  Representatives 
shall  choose  a  President  and  the  Senate  a  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  and  states  precisely  how  the  election  shall  be 
conducted  (148). 


CHAPTER 

POLITICAL  PARTY   PLATFORMS 

DIFFERENCES  of  opinion  on  national  issues  have 
caused  the  organization  of  a  number  of  political  par- 
ties in  the  United  States.  Of  the  parties  now  in 
existence  the  Democratic  is  the  oldest,  dating  back 
to  the  time  of  Jefferson.  It  was  first  known  as  the 
Democratic-Republican  party.  In  1824  there  came  a 
split  and  the  Democratic  party  as  organized  in  1828- 
1831  is  stated  by  some  authorities  as  the  real  begin- 
ning of  the  present  Democratic  party. 

As  a  direct  result  of  the  passage  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  making  slavery  possible  in  the  north, 
the  Republican  party  came  into  being  in  1854. 

Actuated  by  a  desire  for  national  and  State  legis- 
lation to  stop  the  liquor  traffic,  the  Prohibition  party 
was  organized  in  1869  and  nominated  its  first  na- 
tional ticket  in  1872. 

The  Socialist-Labor  party,  organized  as  a  propa- 
ganda society  in  1877,  decided  in  1890  on  permanent 
independent  political  action.  It  differs  from  the  So- 
cialist party  in  advocating  a  complete  reconstruction 
of  government,  replacing  Congress  by  a  parliament 
elected  by  industries  or  occupations  instead  of  by 
localities,  and  direct  democratic  control  of  industry 
by  the  workers  employed  therein. 

86 


POLITICAL  PARTY  PLATFORMS         87 

In  1888  a  faction  which  believed  in  political  action 
as  a  working  class  party  left  the  Social  Democracy 
and  in  1890  with  a  group  of  the  Socialist  Labor  party 
organized  the  present  Socialist  party. 

The  organization  of  the  Progressive  party  in  1912 
was  caused  by  discontent  in  the  Republican  party. 

A  statement  of  reform  principles  has  been  an- 
nounced by  the  National  party,  formed  in  1917. 

Party  Principles.  Each  political  party,  at  its  na- 
tional and  state  conventions,  adopts  a  platform  de- 
claring its  principles.  Before  affiliating  with  a  party, 
the  citizen  should  not  only  study  carefully  the  princi- 
ples outlined  in  the  platforms,  but  should  note  whether 
the  parties  through  their  elected  candidates  put  these 
policies  into  effect. 

At  their  1916  conventions,  both  Republican  and 
Democratic  parties  declared  for  the  protection  of  the 
American  citizen  and  for  the  enforcement  of  the  Mon- 
roe doctrine,  although  they  differed  as  to  the  methods 
by  which  these  ends  may  be  attained.  Both 
platforms  approved  friendly  and  helpful  inter-rela- 
tions of  Pan-American  countries,  the  conservation  of 
natural  resources,  provision  for  national  defense,  econ- 
omy in  government  and  the  budget  system,  upholding 
the  civil  service  regulations  and  the  extension  of 
suffrage  to  women. 

Democratic  Platform.  The  Democratic  party  re- 
affirmed its  belief  in  tariff  for  revenue  and  en- 
dorsed the  Underwood  tariff  bill  as  exemplifying  that 
doctrine.  It  endorsed  the  pending  shipping  bill.  It 
commended  the  current  administration  (Demo- 


88         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

cratie)  for  its  legislation  on  behalf  of  the  farmer.  It 
stated  that  the  Federal  Government  should  put  into 
effect  these  "principles  of  just  employment"  and 
should  urge  them  in  State  legislation :  "A  living  wage 
for  all  employees ;  a  working  day  not  to  exceed  eight 
hours,  with  one  day  of  rest  in  seven ;  the  adoption  of 
safety  appliances  and  the  establishment  of  thoroughly 
sanitary  conditions  of  labor;  adequate  compensation 
for  industrial  accidents;  the  standards  of  the  'Uni- 
form Child  Labor  Law'  wherever  minors  are  em- 
ployed; such  provisions  for  decency,  comfort  and 
health  in  the  employment  of  women  as  should  be  ac- 
corded the  mothers  of  the  race;  an  equitable  retire- 
ment law  providing  for  the  retirement  of  superannu- 
ated and  disabled  employees  of  the  civil  service  to 
the  end  that  a  higher  standard  of  efficiency  may  be 
maintained." 

It  favored  ' '  the  speedy  enactment  of  a  Federal  Child 
Labor  Law,"  "the  regulation  of  the  shipment  of 
prison-made  goods  in  interstate  commerce,"  "the 
creation  of  a  Federal  Bureau  of  Safety  in  the  De- 
partment of  Labor,"  "the  extension  of  the  powers 
and  functions  of  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Mines,"  "the 
development  upon  a  systematic  scale  of  the  means 
already  begun  under  the  present  administration  to 
assist  laborers  throughout  the  Union  to  seek  and  ob- 
tain employment,"  public  health  work,  the  establish- 
ment by  the  Federal  Government  of  sanatoriums  for 
needy  tubercular  patients,  the  alteration  of  the  Sen- 
ate rules  to  secure  prompt  transaction  of  business. 

Self-government  for  the  Philippine  Islands  was  en- 


POLITICAL  PARTY  PLATFORMS         89 

dorsed.  These  principles  of  prison  reform  were 
urged:  Training  in  remunerative  occupations,  the 
setting  apart  of  the  net  wages  of  the  prisoner  for  his 
dependent  family  or  to  be  paid  to  him  upon  his  re- 
lease, the  liberal  extension  of  the  principles  of  the 
Federal  Parole  Law  and  the  adoption  of  the  proba- 
tion system.  Generous  pensions  for  soldiers  and  their 
widows  were  recommended.  The  development  of  har- 
bors and  waterways  was  favored  and  the  control  of 
the  Mississippi  River  was  stated  as  a  national  problem 
to  be  handled  by  the  National  Government.  Legisla- 
tion for  the  development  of  Alaskan  resources  was 
pledged  and  the  granting  of  the  United  States  tradi- 
tional territorial  government  to  Alaska,  Hawaii  and 
Porto  Rico  was  favored. 

Republican  Platform.  The  Republican  platform 
condemned  the  Democratic  policy  of  granting  self- 
government  to  the  Philippine  Islands  immediately  and 
reaffirmed  its  policy  of  government  by  the  United 
States  with  constantly  increasing  participation  by 
the  Philippine  people.  It  reiterated  its  approval  of 
treaties  recognizing  the  absolute  right  of  expatriation 
and  pledged  itself  to  maintaining  the  right  of  asylum. 

It  repeated  its  belief  in  a  protective  tariff  and  con- 
demned the  Underwood  tariff  bill.  It  expressed  be- 
lief in  ' '  rigid  supervision  and  strict  regulation  of  the 
transportation  and  great  corporations  of  the  country" 
and  "that  all  who  violate  the  laws  in  regulation  of 
business  should  be  individually  punished."  The 
Democratic  policy  in  this  regard  was  condemned  as 
involving  "the  Government  in  business  which  should 


90         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

be  left  within  the  sphere  of  private  enterprise  and  in 
direct  competition  with  its  own  citizens." 

It  declared  that  the  Democratic  administration  had 
not  made  good  its  claims  of  beneficial  legislation  for 
rural  credits  and  extension  of  rural  free  delivery  and 
pledged  itself  to  accomplish  these  things.  It  disap- 
proved the  Government  ownership  of  vessels  proposed 
by  the  Democratic  party  and  instead  favored  liberal 
payments  to  ships  in  the  foreign  trade  for  services  in 
carrying  the  mails,  and  the  passage  of  other  legisla- 
tion to  aid  the  merchant  marine.  It  recommended 
the  placing  of  the  entire  transportation  system  of  the 
country  under  Federal  control. 

It  pledged  the  party  to  faithful  enforcement  of  all 
Federal  laws  passed  for  the  protection  of  labor,  de- 
clared for  vocational  education,  the  enactment  and 
rigid  enforcement  of  a  Federal  child  labor  law,  the 
enactment  of  a  generous  and  comprehensive  work- 
man's compensation  law,  within  the  commerce  power 
of  Congress;  an  accident  compensation  law  covering 
all  Government  employees,  and  legislation  for  public 
safety. 

Socialist  Platform.  The  Socialist  platform  stated: 
* l  The  Socialist  party  as  the  political  expression  of  the 
economic  interests  of  the  working  class  calls  upon 
them  to  take  a  determined  stand  on  the  question  of 
militarism  and  war,  and  to  recognize  the  opportunity 
which  the  Great  War  has  given  them  of  forcing  dis- 
armament and  furthering  the  cause  of  industrial  free- 
dom." It  further  declared,  "Socialism  admits  the 
private  ownership  and  individual  direction  of  all 


POLITICAL  PARTY  PLATFORMS         91 

things,  tools,  economic  processes  and  functions  which 
are  individualistic  in  character,  and  requires  the  col- 
lective ownership  and  democratic  control  and  direc- 
tion of  those  which  are  social  or  collectivistic  in  char- 
acter." 

The  platform  recommended  as  peace  measures  "that 
all  laws  and  appropriations  for  the  increase  of  the 
military  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  shall 
be  immediately  repealed,"  that  the  power  to  fix  for- 
eign policies  and  conduct  diplomatic  negotiations  be 
lodged  in  Congress,  exercised  publicly  and  that  the 
people  be  free  by  referendum  at  any  time  to  order 
Congress  to  change  its  policy:  that  no  war  be  de- 
clared or  waged  by  the  United  States  at  any  time 
without  a  referendum  vote  of  the  entire  people,  except 
for  the  purpose  of  repelling  invasion;  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  immediate  self-govern- 
ment for  the  Philippine  Islands,  the  calling  by  the 
Government  of  a  congress  of  all  neutral  nations  to 
mediate  for  lasting  peace  and  to  arrange  for  an  In- 
ternational Congress  with  power  to  adjust  disputes 
between  nations  and  to  guarantee  equal  rights  to  all 
oppressed  nations  and  races. 

The  political  demands  in  the  platform  were  out- 
lined as:  Equal  suffrage  for  men  and  women,  the 
adoption  of  the  Susan  B.  Anthony  suffrage  amend- 
ment, the  initiative,  referendum  and  recall  and  pro- 
portional representation,  national  and  local;  aboli- 
tion of  the  Senate  and  veto  power  of  the  President, 
election  of  President  and  Vice-President  by  direct 
vote  of  the  people,  provision  for  the  amendment  of  the 


92         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

National  Constitution  by  a  majority  of  the  voters,  a 
convention  to  revise  the  National  Constitution,  aboli- 
tion of  the  power  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  pass  upon 
the  constitutionality  of  legislation  enacted  by  Con- 
gress, the  only  repeal  for  such  legislation  to  be  by 
Congress  or  referendum  vote  of  the  whole  people; 
abrogation  of  the  power  of  the  courts  to  issue  injunc- 
tions, election  of  all  judges  to  United  States  courts 
for  short  terms,  free  administration  of  the  law,  suf- 
frage for  the  District  of  Columbia  with  representation 
in  Congress  and  a  democratic  form  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment for  purely  local  affairs,  extension  of  demo- 
cratic government  to  all  United  States  territory,  free- 
dom of  the  press,  speech  and  assemblage,  increase  of 
income  and  corporation  taxes  and  extension  of  inher- 
itance tax,  general  educational  measures,  vocational 
education,  health  measures,  abolition  of  monopoly 
ownership  of  patents  in  favor  of  collective  ownership 
with  direct  royalty  rewards  to  inventors. 

The  industrial  demands  were:  A  shortened  work 
day,  freedom  of  political  and  economic  organization 
and  activities,  a  rest  period  of  not  less  than  a  day 
and  a  half  in  each  week,  more  effective  inspection  of 
workshops,  factories  and  mines,  employment  forbid- 
den for  those  under  eighteen  years  old,  interstate 
transportation  of  child  labor  products  and  products 
of  uninspected  factories  and  mines  forbidden,  min- 
imum wage  scales,  old  age  pensions,  state  insurance 
against  unemployment  and  sickness,  compulsory  in- 
surance by  employers  of  their  workers,  without  cost 


POLITICAL  PARTY  PLATFORMS         93 

to  the  latter,  against  industrial  diseases,  accidents  and 
death;  mothers'  pensions. 

Prohibition  Platform.  The  Prohibition  platform 
declared  primarily  for  national  and  state  legislation  to 
stop  the  liquor  traffic.  It  endorsed  suffrage  for 
women,  a  world  court  for  peace,  abolition  of  militar- 
ism, employment  of  the  army  in  normal  times  in 
reclamation  work.  It  claimed  protection  for  the 
American  citizen,  reaffirmed  its  faith  in  the  Monroe 
doctrine,  recommended  that  the  Philippines  be  gov- 
erned by  the  United  States  with  increasing  local 
privileges,  and  urged  reciprocal  trade  treaties  and  a 
tariff  investigation  commission.  It  recommended 
legislation  for  the  merchant  marine,  upholding  civil 
service  regulations,  labor  legislation,  public  grain 
elevators  operated  by  the  Federal  Government,  Fed- 
eral grain  inspection  under  a  system  of  civil  service 
and  the  abolition  of  any  institution  in  which  " gam- 
bling in  grain"  "or  any  other  so-called  speculation 
is  indulged  in."  It  endorsed  Government  warehouses 
for  cotton,  public  ownership  of  utilities  and  the  de- 
velopment of  free  institutions.  It  declared  that  de- 
partmental decision  ought  not  to  be  final  and  that  the 
people  should  be  protected  by  provision  for  court 
review.  Conservation  of  natural  resources,  economy 
in  government  and  the  budget  system,  the  right  of  the 
President  to  veto  any  single  item  in  an  appropriation 
bill,  uniform  marriage  and  divorce  laws,  a  single 
presidential  term  of  six  years,  the  initiative,  referen- 
dum and  recall  were  endorsed. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

INTERNATIONAL   RELATIONS 

THE  management  of  international  affairs  is  a  serv- 
ice of  the  highest  importance,  and  the  power  to  direct 
foreign  relations  is  a  sovereign  power.  In  the  United 
States  all  power  in  respect  to  matters  of  an  interna- 
tional character  is  lodged  in  the  federal  government, 
the  organ  of  our  national  sovereignty.  International 
affairs  have  never  been  regulated  by  the  State.  Un- 
der the  Articles  of  Confederation  negotiations  with 
foreign  countries  were  conducted  by  the  Congress; 
under  the  Constitution  States  are  expressly  forbidden 
to  enter  into  political  relations  with  foreign  countries 
(72),  and  the  management  of  international  affairs  is 
given  to  the  President  and  Senate  (95). 

The  international  political  affairs  of  a  state  are  con- 
ducted by  its  diplomatic  representatives,  of  whom  the 
ambassador  is  the  highest  in  rank.  The  ambassador 
represents  the  person  of  the  executive  of  the  country 
from  which  he  comes,  and  he  receives  for  this  reason 
the  highest  personal  respect  and  consideration.  A 
minister,  who  is  next  to  the  ambassador  in  rank,  rep- 
resents the  government  from  which  he  comes,  but  not 
the  personality  of  the  executive.  In  foreign  courts 
an  ambassador,  being  a  personal  representative  of  a 
ruler,  is  admitted  to  an  audience  with  officials  ahead 

94 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS  95 

of  a  minister.  For  a  long  time  a  minister  was  the 
highest  diplomatic  representative  of  the  United  States, 
but  when  it  was  found  that  under  the  rules  of  prece- 
dence in  favor  of  ambassadors  a  minister  of  the 
United  States  was  sometimes  kept  waiting  for  an  offi- 
cial audience  while  the  ambassador  of  some  petty 
kingdom  was  being  received,  Congress  (in  1893)  cre- 
ated the  rank  of  ambassador.  We  have  ambassadors 
for  Great  Britain,  Germany,  France,  Italy,  Austria, 
Mexico,  Russia,  Brazil,  Japan,  Spain,  Chile,  Argen- 
tina, and  Turkey.  In  other  countries  we  are  repre- 
sented by  ministers. 

Ambassadors  and  ministers,  their  property  and 
their  households,  are  exempt  from  the  laws  of  the 
country  to  which  they  are  accredited.  The  residence 
of  a  foreign  minister  is,  according  to  international 
law,  a  little  patch  of  territory  under  the  dominion 
of  the  country  which  the  minister  represents.  If  the 
Chinese  minister  at  Washington  should  commit  a 
crime,  Chinese  and  not  American  authorities  must  try 
the  case  and  administer  the  punishment.  If  a  case 
should  arise  where  a  judicial  decision  affecting  diplo- 
matic agents  is  necessary,  it  must  be  taken  direct  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  no  matter  how  trivial  it  may  be 
(110). 

The  duties  of  a  diplomatic  representative  depend 
upon  the  powers  which  his  government  has  conferred 
upon  him  and  upon  the  relations  which  exist  between 
his  government  and  the  one  to  which  he  is  sent.  In 
general,  he  represents  and  defends  the  interests  of  his. 
country.  He  keeps  the  home  government  informed 


96         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

upon  topics  of  public  interest,  especially  upon  political 
topics,  but  he  must  not  interfere  in  any  way  with  the 
politics  of  the  country  where  he  resides.  "When  a 
citizen  of  his  own  country  has  been  injured  by  a  vio- 
lation of  a  rule  of  international  law  he  seeks  a  remedy 
from  a  foreign  government,  and  when  a  treaty  is 
made  he  usually  serves  as  the  channel  of  negotiation. 

A  consul  is  a  business  agent  of  a  government  sent 
to  a  seaport  or  inland  city  to  look  after  the  welfare 
of  citizens  of  his  own  country.  He  does  not  repre- 
sent a  government,  he  is  not  a  diplomatic  agent,  and 
he  does  not  enjoy  the  honors  and  immunities  of  a  min- 
ister. Sometimes  a  consul-general  is  appointed  to  su- 
pervise all  the  consuls  in  the  country  to  which  he  is 
sent. 

The  first  duty  of  the  consul  is  to  aid  his  country- 
men in  securing  their  commercial  rights.  Among  his 
other  duties  are  the  following:  He  places  the  con- 
sular seal  upon  official  acts  of  the  foreign  government ; 
he  certifies  to  marriages,  births  and  deaths  among  his 
countrymen  in  his  consular  district;  he  certifies  in- 
voices; he  administers  on  the  personal  property  of 
deceased  persons  when  there  is  no  representative  at 
hand.  The  consul  receives  applications  for  passports, 
and,  when  specifically  authorized  to  do  so,  grants 
them.  He  also  grants  passports  in  the  absence  of  the 
regular  diplomatic  representatives. 

When  two  or  more  states  are  at  war  and  desire 
peace,  or  if  in  times  of  peace  their  commercial  or 
monetary  systems  require  adjustment,  or  if  their 
boundaries  need  to  be  defined,  or  if  in  any  way  their 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS  97 

international  affairs  are  to  be  regulated,  they  may 
accomplish  any  of  these  objects  by  entering  into  a 
solemn  compact  or  agreement  called  a  treaty.  A 
treaty,  when  made  by  sovereign  states  and  signed  by 
the  proper  diplomatic  agents,  and  ratified  by  the  gov- 
ernments of  the  signatory  powers,  becomes  the  law 
for  all  the  states  entering  into  the  compact.  In  the 
United  States  a  treaty  concluded  by  the  federal  gov- 
ernment is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  (126),  and 
any  State  law  in  conflict  with  a  treaty  which  is  con- 
stitutional is  null  and  void.  Since  a  treaty  is  simply 
a  law,  Congress  may  repeal  a  treaty  by  passing  a  law 
contrary  to  its  provisions,  or  an  existing  law  may  be 
repealed  by  the  terms  of  a  new  treaty.  A  treaty  con- 
trary to  the  Constitution  is  void. 

If  a  citizen  violates  a  treaty  his  government  will 
punish  him  as  the  violator  of  a  law ;  but  suppose  the 
state  itself  should  violate  one  of  its  treaties,  is  there 
a  power  to  punish  the  state  ?  There  is  no  power  but 
the  sword  of  the  aggrieved  country.  The  violation  of 
treaty  obligation  is  universally  regarded  as  a  just 
cause  of  war.  But  suppose  a  powerful  state  violates 
a  compact  which  it  has  made  with  a  puny  state  ?  In 
such  a  case  punishment  through  war  is  out  of  the 
question  and  the  weak  state  must  rely  upon  the  nat- 
ural operation  of  the  law  of  nations.  "In  the  eye 
of  international  law  treaties  are  made  to  be  kept," 
and  if.  a  powerful  nation  persistently  and  perversely 
breaks  its  treaties  it  will  incur  the  hostility  of  its 
neighbors  and  sooner  or  later  these  will  combine  and 
force  it  to  abide  by  the  rules  of  international  law. 


98         THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

The  President,  acting  through  the  Secretary  of 
State  and  diplomatic  agents,  negotiates  treaties  with 
foreign  powers.  After  a  treaty  has  been  framed,  if 
it  meets  with  the  approval  of  the  President,  it  is  sent 
to  the  Senate,  where  it  must  be  ratified  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  (95).  If  it  is  successful  in  the  Senate  it  is  sent 
to  the  foreign  government  for  ratification.  When  it 
has  been  ratified  by  the  foreign  power  the  treaty  is 
law  for  all  the  states  whose  governments  have  signed 
it. 

A  treaty  provides  for  the  peaceful  intercourse  of 
two  or  more  nations  in  the  future.  How  shall  ques- 
tions and  disputes  arising  out  of  past  transactions  be 
settled?  One  nation  has  wounded  the  pride  of  an- 
other, or  has  trespassed  upon  its  boundaries,  or  dam- 
aged its  commerce,  or  maltreated  its  citizens;  how 
shall  the  injured  nations  find  redress  without  declar- 
ing war?  Nations  which  are  capable  of  a  humane 
and  enlightened  policy  may  find  a  peaceful  exit  from 
the  most  exasperating  situations:  they  may  submit 
their  differences  to  a  court  of  arbitration,  just  as  pri- 
vate citizens  often  submit  their  differences  to  arbitra- 
tion in  order  to  avoid  a  battle  in  the  courts  of  law. 

Nations  wishing  to  settle  a  dispute  by  arbitration 
enter  into  a  preliminary  treaty,  and  agree  upon  a 
method  of  selecting  the  members  of  the  arbitration 
board,  appoint  a  time  and  place  for  the  meeting  of 
the  board,  and  define  precisely  the  question  to  be  set- 
tled. The  arbitrators,  like  impartial  judges,  listen 
to  the  claims  of  the  several  states,  investigate  and 
weigh  the  facts  pertaining  to  the  case,  and  render  a 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS  99 

decision  in  accordance  with  the  facts  and  the  princi- 
ples of  justice.  When  the  decision  of  a  board  of  arbi- 
tration has  been  fairly  obtained,  all  the  nations  af- 
fected by  it  are  under  the  most  solemn  obligations  to 
acquiesce  in  it. 

During  the  nineteenth  century  international  dis- 
putes were  settled  by  arbitration  more  frequently 
than  ever  before,  and  in  the  number  of  cases  sub- 
mitted to  arbitration  the  United  States  led  the  nations 
of  the  world.  The  increasing  success  of  arbitration, 
and  the  expressed  desire  of  many  of  the  great  powers 
to  adopt  it  as  a  substitute  for  war,  have  encouraged 
lovers  of  peace  to  look  forward  to  a  time  when  the 
countries  of  the  earth  shall  agree  to  submit  all  differ- 
ences to  a  permanent  board  of  international  arbitra- 
tion. If  such  a  tribunal  shall  be  constituted  and  its 
decisions  obeyed,  peace  may  be  permanent  and  the 
money  and  talents  and  energy  that  are  devoted  to  the 
support  of  war  will  be  devoted  to  commerce  and  in- 
dustry. 

For  preventing  the  sudden  outbreak  of  war  the  fol- 
lowing plan  has  been  proposed:  All  the  great  na- 
tions of  the  world  are  to  join  in  a  Peace  League  and 
are  to  agree  that,  when  a  dispute  arises  between  two 
countries,  the  question  in  dispute,  if  it  cannot  be 
settled  in  the  ordinary  manner,  shall  be  submitted  to 
a  court,  or  to  a  "Council  of  Conciliation,"  and  that 
neither  nation  shall  begin  war  upon  the  other  until 
the  court,  or  council,  renders  its  decision.  After  the 
decision  is  rendered  the  nation  against  which  the 
case  is  decided  may  go  to  war  if  it  wills  to  do  so,  for 


100       THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

it  will  not  be  compelled  to  abide  by  the  judgment  of 
the  court.  If  the  war  between  two  nations  of  the 
Peace  League  is  begun  'before  the  question  in  dispute 
is  submitted  to  a  tribunal,  then  all  the  other  nations 
are  to  join  together  and  use  their  military  and  finan- 
cial forces  against  the  nation  that  strikes  the  first 
blow. 


CHAPTER  XV 

TAXATION 

GOVERNMENT  in  America  must  receive  its  revenue 
through  the  consent  of  the  legislature.  When  the 
legislature  makes  a  general  call  upon  the  citizens  for 
contributions  for  the  support  of  government,  it  is  said 
to  tax  them.  When  the  levy  or  call  is  properly  made 
the  contribution  is  compulsory  and  cannot  be  escaped. 
A  tax,  therefore,  may  be  denned  as  an  enforced  con- 
tribution of  money  levied  by  the  legislature  on  per- 
sons, property  or  income,  for  the  support  of  govern- 
ment. Property  is  the  thing  universally  taxed.  If 
any  property  escapes  taxation,  it  is  not  as  a  rule  the 
fault  of  the  law,  for  legislators  attempt  to  tax  almost 
everything  upon  which  a  tax  can  possibly  be  laid. 
For  the  sake  of  system  they  divide  property  and  other 
subjects  of  taxation  into  classes  and  name  the  tax 
according  to  the  class  upon  which  it  is  levied.  The 
kinds  of  taxes  which  are  usually  collected  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

1.  The  general  property  tax,  levied  (a)  on  real 
property,  which  includes  lands  and  buildings  and 
other  things  erected  on  land,  and  (&)  on  personal 
property,  which  includes  such  things  as  household 
furniture,  money,  goods,  bonds,  notes  of  promise, 

101 


102       THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

stocks,    mortgages,   jewelry,   horses,    carriages,   auto- 
mobiles, and  farming  implements. 

2.  The  income  tax,   levied  upon   income   whether 
from  wages  or  salary  or  profits  upon  business. 

3.  The  inheritance  tax,  levied  upon  property  ac- 
quired by  inheritance  or  will.     Sometimes  this  tax  is 
regarded  as  an  income  tax,  an  inheritance  or  legacy 
being  considered  as  nothing  more  than  a  part  of  the 
yearly  income. 

4.  The  corporation  tax,  levied  upon  private  corpo- 
rations.    This  tax  sometimes  takes  the  form  of  an  in- 
come tax  levied  upon  the  corporation  regarded  as  a 
person;  sometimes  it  is  levied  upon  the  bonds  and 
stock  of  the  corporation.     In  a  few  States  it  is  levied 
upon  the  earnings  of  the  corporation. 

5.  The  franchise  tax,  levied  upon  a  privilege  granted 
by  government.     When  a  city  council  confers  upon  a 
corporation  the  right  to  operate  a  trolley  line  upon  a 
certain  street,  the  right  conferred  is  a  franchise,  and 
upon  the  value  of  this  right  the  franchise  tax  is  laid. 
Though  franchises  are  not  material,  visible  property 
they  have  nevertheless  been  declared  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  to  be  property.     Some- 
times franchises  have  an  enormous  value.     For  exam- 
ple, while  the  tangible  property,  the  rolling  stock, 
rails,  wires  and  power-houses  of  a  trolley  company 
may  be  worth  only  a  million  dollars,  the  right  to  use 
the  street   (the  franchise)   would  not  be  sold  for  a 
sum  several  times  as  great.     Sometimes  a  corporation 
is  compelled  to  pay  both  a  franchise  tax  and  a  prop- 
erty tax  on  its  material  possessions. 


TAXATION  103 

6.  The  poll  or  capitation  tax  is  a  sum  ranging  from 
one  to  four  dollars  levied  as  a  personal  tax.     It  is  a 
tax  on  the  person,  as  a  person,  and  not  as  a  possessor 
of  property. 

7.  Customs  duties,  levied  upon  articles  imported 
from  a  foreign  country.     In  some  countries  customs 
duties  are  levied  upon  exported  articles,  but  this  can- 
not be  done  in  the  United  States  (67). 

8.  Excises  or  internal  revenue  taxes,  levied  upon 
goods  manufactured  within  the  country.     The  articles 
which  yield  most  of  the  internal  revenue  are:  dis- 
tilled spirits,  beer,  ale,  tobacco  and  oleomargarin  and 
playing  cards.     The  corporation  tax  is  also  regarded 
as  aji  excise. 

9.  License  taxes,  collected  from  merchants,  peddlers, 
hack-drivers,  showmen,  saloon-keepers,  and  others,  for 
the  privilege  of  transacting  business.     The  license  tax 
resembles  the  franchise  tax. 

10.  Fees  and  special  assessments,  collected  as  a  par- 
tial payment  for  services  rendered  by  the  government. 
The  charge  for  issuing  a  marriage  certificate  is  an 
example  of  a  fee,  while  a  charge  made  for  connecting 
a  private  drain  with  a  public  sewer  is  an  example  of 
a  special  assessment.     Fees  and  special  assessments 
are  not  always  taxes  properly  so  called. 

It  is  sometimes  contended  that  one  ?s  duty  in  respect 
to  the  payment  of  taxes  should  be  measured,  not  by 
ability,  but  by  sacrifice.  According  to  this  view  a 
tax  is  burdensome,  not  in  proportion  to  what  is  paid, 
but  to  what  is  left.  To  equalize  the  sacrifice  of  tax- 
payers a  graduated  or  progressive  tax  has  been  pro- 


104   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

posed.  Under  the  workings  of  this  tax  the  rate  in- 
creases with  the  amount  of  property.  For  example, 
if  A,  B,  C  and  D  are  worth  respectively  $10,000, 
$20,000,  $30,000  and  $40,000,  a  scheme  of  progressive 
taxation  might  impose  upon  A  a  rate  of  one  per  cent., 
upon  B  a  rate  of  two  per  cent.,  upon  C  a  rate  of  three 
per  cent.,  and  upon  D  a  rate  of  four  per  cent.  D's 
property  is  only  four  times  as  great  as  A's,  yet  it 
pays  sixteen  times  as  much  in  taxes. 

The  principle  of  progressive  taxation  is  recognized 
in  the  federal  income  tax  imposed  upon  the  incomes 
of  individuals  and  corporations.  In  addition  to  the 
underlying  or  normal  tax  Congress  levies  a  surtax  the 
rate  of  which  increases  as  the  income  grows  larger. 
A  few  States  have  progressive  income  taxes  while 
many  have  progressive  inheritance  taxes. 

One  of  the  most  radical  of  tax  reforms  is  the  plan 
by  which  all  revenues,  federal,  State  and  local,  are 
to  be  raised  from  a  single  tax  imposed  on  land.  Ac- 
cording to  this  plan,  men  should  contribute  to  the 
support  of  government,  not  in  proportion  to  what 
they  produce  or  accumulate,  but  in  proportion  to  the 
value  of  the  natural  opportunities  they  hold;  and  it 
is  contended  that  the  landholder  is  the  great  monop- 
olist of  natural  opportunities.  The  single  tax  would 
be  laid  upon  land  as  such,  and  not  upon  the  improve- 
ments upon  land.  The  tax  upon  a  vacant  lot,  pro- 
vided it  were  as  favorably  located,  would  be  as  heavy 
as  the  tax  upon  a  lot  improved  by  a  magnificent 
structure.  The  fundamental  principle  of  the  single 
tax  is  this :  The  individual  should  get  the  advantage 


TAXATION  105 

of  all  improvements  upon  land,  while  the  government 
(society)  should  get  the  advantage  of  favorable  loca- 
tion, and  of  the  increased  values  that  accrue  to  land 
in  a  community  which  is  progressive  and  which  is  in- 
creasing in  population. 

In  1916  Congress  imposed  an  inheritance  tax,  known 
as  the  Estate  Tax,  upon  the  estates  of  all  decedents 
leaving  property  valued  at  $50,000.  This  tax  is  grad- 
uated, the  ratio  being  from  one  per  cent,  on  estates  of 
$50,000  to  ten  per  cent,  on  estates  of  $5,000,000. ' 

It  is  plain  that  expenditures  for  government  in  the 
United  States  must  be  very  heavy,  for  there  are  three 
highly  organized  governments  to  be  supported:  the 
federal  government  with  its  army  and  navy  and  courts 
of  law  and  high  officials  and  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  employees ;  the  State  governments  with  their 
numerous  departments;  the  local  governments  with 
their  school  system  and  charitable  institutions  and 
highway  improvements  and  police  and  sanitary  serv- 
ice. In  normal  times  the  federal  government  spends 
about  $1,250,000,000  a  year,  State  and  Territorial  gov- 
ernment about  $250,000,000,  local  government  about 
$1,500,000.000,  making  a  total  public,  expenditure  of 
$3,000,000,000  a  year.  These  numbers  in  themselves 
mean  nothing — they  are  too  large  for  the  mind  to  grasp 
— but  comparison  enables  us  to  comprehend  their  sig- 
nificance. $3,000,000,000  is  about  one-twelfth  of  the 
combined  annual  earnings  of  every  man,  woman  and 
child  in  the  United  States.  The  people,  therefore, 
contribute  to  government  in  a  year  about  as  much  as 
they  earn  in  a  month. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

PUBLIC    FINANCE 

SINCE  under  our  dual  system  of  government  taxa- 
tion is  a  concurrent  function  exercised  with  sovereign 
power  by  the  State  as  well  as  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment, and  since  each  government  determines  its  own 
expenditures,  public  finance  in  the  United  States  is 
resolved  into  two  sharply  defined  systems — national 
finance  and  State  finance.  The  system  of  national 
finance  will  first  receive  attention. 

At  the  opening  of  every  regular  session  Congress 
receives  the  report  and  recommendations  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  containing  detailed  estimates 
prepared  by  the  heads  of  departments  of  the  sums 
necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  national  gov- 
ernment. Not  a  dollar  of  the  estimates  can  be  raised 
constitutionally  without  the  consent  of  Congress.  As 
a  matter  of  practice,  the  consideration  of  the  esti- 
mated expenditures  begins  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, where  the  recommendations  found  in  the 
Book  of  Estimates  are  referred  by  the  Speaker  to  the 
proper  committees. 

The  committees  virtually  control  federal  expendi- 
tures. There  is  no  limitation  upon  their  power  of 
appropriation,  except  that  any  appropriation  for  the 

106 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  107 

support  of  the  army  shall  not  be  made  for  more  than 
two  years  (56).  They  take  the  estimates  submitted 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  do  with  them 
as  they  please.  Sometimes  they  accept  them,  some- 
times they  modify  them,  but  often  they  ignore  them 
altogether.  It  is  their  function  to  prepare  bills  pro- 
viding for  the  expenses  of  the  government ;  and  in  this 
exercise  of  their  duty  they  are  entirely  independent 
of  executive  authority.  Quite  often  they  invite  treas- 
ury officials  to  assist  them  and  advise  them,  but  they 
are  under  no  constitutional  obligation  to  do  so.  The 
committees  express  their  judgments  in  reference  to 
the  proper  expenditures  in  the  form  of  appropriation 
bills.  These,  like  all  other  bills,  must  run  the  gaunt- 
let of  legislation.  They  must  pass  both  houses  and 
receive  the  signature  of  the  President.  When  they 
have  received  the  signature  of  the  President  and  have 
become  laws,  the  first  step  in  national  finance  has  been 
taken :  it  has  been  determined  how  much  money  shall 
be  spent  for  the  support  of  the  federal  government. 

The  second  step  in  national  finance  is  taken  when 
Congress  passes  the  laws  for  raising  the  money  which 
it  has  decided  to  spend.  While  private  individuals 
ordinarily  estimate  their  income  first  and  then  decide 
upon  their  expenditures,  governments  are  accustomed 
to  estimate  their  expenditures  first  and  to  attend  to 
the  matter  of  income  afterward.  Bills  for  raising 
national  revenue  must  originate  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives (36),  because  the  House  directly  repre- 
sents the  people.  Post-office  bills  and  bills  relating 
to  the  mints  and  to  the  sale  of  public  lands  may  orig- 


108   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

inate  in  the  Senate,  and  any  revenue  bill  whatever 
may  be  modified  to  almost  any  extent  in  the  Senate. 
The  House  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  has  exclu- 
sive control  of  bills  for  raising-  revenue.  Since  this 
committee  prepares  the  tax  bill  for  the  nation,  it  is 
justly  regarded  as  the  most  important  committee  in 
Congress. 

When  levying  taxes  for  the  support  of  the  national 
government  Congress  has  many  sources  of  revenue 
upon  which  it  may  rely.  One  of  these  is  the  tariff, 
that  is,  the  customs  duties  on  imports.  In  normal 
times  the  customs  tax  ordinarily  yields  nearly  half 
of  the  national  revenue.  The  customs  tax  is  levied 
upon  several  hundred  articles,  but  most  of  the  tariff 
revenues  are  collected  from  manufacturers  of  wool, 
cotton,  silk,  iron,  copper  and  tin,  and  from  sugar, 
fruit,  liquor,  wines,  cigars,  drugs  and  chemicals. 
Among  the  articles  admitted  free  of  duty  are :  coffee, 
tea,  anthracite  coal,  books  over  twenty  years  old,  dye- 
woods  and  fertilizers. 

Federal  revenues  not  raised  by  duties  on  foreign 
goods  are  for  the  most  part  derived  from  excises — 
taxes  on  articles  produced  in  the  United  States — 
from  an  inheritance  tax,  and  from  an  income  tax 
imposed  on  individuals  and  corporations. 

We  now  come  to  the  subject  of  State  finance. 

Although  they  may  differ  somewhat  in  detail,  the 
financial  systems  of  the  States  are  quite  uniform  in 
their  workings.  Authority  for  all  public  expenditures 
within  each  State  flows  directly  or  indirectly  from  its 
constitution  and  its  legislature.  Expenses  of  the 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  109 

State  government  are  estimated  and  levied  directly 
by  the  legislature,  and  are  usually  comparatively 
light.  In  some  States  the  constitution  limits  the 
amount  which  can  be  levied  in  one  year. 

The  heavy  expenses  of  local  government  are  met  by 
taxation  imposed  by  the  minor  legislative  bodies,  by 
the  municipal  council,  or  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners— a  legislative  body  as  far  as  taxation  is  con- 
cerned— or  town-meeting,  or  the  township  supervisors 
or  trustees.  Cities,  counties,  and  other  minor  civil 
divisions  are  strictly  under  the  control  of  the  State 
government,  and  the  limits  of  their  power  to  tax  are 
usually  defined  by  the  higher  authority.  In  some 
States  the  limitations  are  fixed  by  the  legislature,  in 
others  by  the  constitution.  In  about  one-third  of  the 
States  counties  are  not  allowed  to  tax  beyond  a  cer- 
tain per  cent,  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  property. 
Municipalities,  in  the  matter  of  taxation,  are  often 
restricted  by  the  terms  of  their  charters.  Taking  the 
country  over,  however,  the  localities  are  quite  free  to 
tax  themselves  as  they  see  fit.  The  most  that  the  leg- 
islature or  the  constitution  undertakes  to  do  is  to 
throw  around  the  local  taxing  power  such  safeguards 
as  will  prevent  bankruptcy.  Since  the  greater  part 
of  the  sum  paid  for  taxes  is  levied  by  local  authority 
with  the  almost  direct  sanction  of  the  voters  them- 
selves, it  can  almost  be  said  that  the  people  are  not 
taxed — for  they  really  tax  themselves. 

Very  often  a  legislature  makes  appropriations  in  a 
hap-hazard,  extravagant  manner,  with  the  result  that 
the  finances  of  the  State  are  in  an  unsatisfactory  con- 


110   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

dition.  In  order  to  remedy  the  evils  of  indiscrimi- 
nate and  unsystematic  action  by  the  legislature,  a 
" budget  system"  has  been  proposed.  Under  this 
system  the  Governor  submits  to  the  legislature  an 
itemized  statement  of  the  needs  of  all  the  State  de- 
partments. This  statement,  called  the  " budget"  is 
used  as  a  basis  for  legislative  action  when  making 
appropriations.  Advocates  of  the  system  are  in 
favor  of  allowing  the  legislature  to  reduce  an  item 
of  the  budget,  but  would  withhold  from  it  the  power 
to  increase  an  item.  Of  course  the  power  of  the  legis- 
lature could  not  be  thus  restricted  except  under  the 
authority  of  the  State  Constitution.  The  budget  sys- 
tem is  in  operation  in  Great  Britain  and  other  foreign 
countries  and  a  movement  for  its  adoption  in  the 
United  States  is  gaining  strength.  In  fact,  in  several 
States,  the  system  has  already  been  adopted. 

In  the  State  the  general  property  tax  is  the  great 
source  of  revenue.  This  tax  reaches  all  property,  real 
and  personal,  located  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
State.  When  the  owner  of  property  resides  outside 
the  State,  he  does  not  escape  taxation  for  that  reason. 

In  the  payment  of  the  general  property  tax  the  tax- 
payer should  bear  a  burden  proportioned  to  his 
wealth;  all  the  property  of  every  person  should  con- 
tribute according  to  its  true  value.  This  is  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  taxation.  In  order  to  realize  this 
principle  of  equality  and  justice  when  levying  the 
general  property  tax  the  government  must  set  in  mo- 
tion an  elaborate  taxing  machinery,  and  must  care- 
fully control  all  the  processes  of  taxation. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  111 

Its  officers,  called  assessors,  must  discover  all  the 
property  of  every  person  and  place  on  it  a  fair  valua- 
tion. The  sum  of  all  the  valuations  of  property  thus 
made  in  a  community  is  the  assessment  of  the  com- 
munity. The  tax  rate  of  the  community  is  found  by 
dividing  the  expenditures  determined  upon  the  assess- 
ment. But  the  community,  even  if  it  be  a  large  city, 
most  probably  is  located  in  a  county  in  which  there 
are  additional  expenses  of  county  government.  The 
local  division  must  bear  its  share  of  these  expenses, 
and  this  will  increase  the  rate  of  the  taxpayer.  The 
county  rate  is  found  by  dividing  the  county  expendi- 
tures by  the  county  assessment,  which  is  the  sum  of 
the  assessments  of  all  the  local  divisions  of  the  county. 
Again,  the  county  as  a  part  of  the  State  must  con- 
tribute its  share  to  the  support  of  the  general  State 
government.  The  State  rate  is  found  by  dividing  the 
State  expenditures  by  the  State  assessment  (the  sum 
of  the  county  assessments).  This  rate  added  to  the 
local  and  county  rates  gives  the  full  tax  rate  of  the 
local  taxpayer. 

The  government  must  provide  agencies  for  correct- 
ing unjust  and  unfair  valuations.  Very  often  there 
is  a  local  board  of  equalization,  to  which  taxpayers 
may  appeal  when  they  think  they  have  not  been 
treated  fairly  by  the  assessors.  Sometimes  such  com- 
plaints are  taken  to  an  appeal  tax  court,  or  to  the 
board  of  county  commissioners.  When  the  board  of 
equalization  or  other  body  to  which  appeal  is  made 
finds  that  there  has  been  an  unjust  assessment,  it  will 
order  a  new  one  made.  State  boards  of  equalization 


112       THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

have  been  established  in  some  instances  to  correct 
evils  growing  out  of  uneven  assessment  among  local- 
ities. Where  assessors  of  one  locality  place  the  valua- 
tion of  property  too  low  and  those  of  other  localities 
name  the  true  valuation  the  citizens  of  the  latter  are 
obliged  to  contribute  more  than  their  just  share  to 
the  state  expenses. 

When  the  taxpayer  fails  to  pay  his  tax-bill 
promptly  the  property  upon  which  the  tax  is  levied  is 
said  to  be  delinquent,  and  is  liable  to  be  sold  to  satisfy 
the  claim.  If  the  property  sold  for  taxes  should 
bring  more  than  the  amount  of  the  tax  the  excess  is 
given  to  the  owner.  Moreover,  the  owner  usually  has 
the  right  to  buy  back  his  property  at  the  price  for 
which  it  is  sold.  This  right  of  redemption,  however, 
continues  for  only  a  limited  period,  usually  two  years. 

State  constitutions  almost  always  specify  the  kinds 
of  property  that  may  be  exempt  from  taxation,  and 
the  legislature  is  usually  forbidden  to  exempt  any 
other  kind.  A  clause  from  the  constitution  of  Min- 
nesota will  illustrate  the  practice  in  reference  to  ex- 
emption: "  Public  burying  grounds,  public  school- 
houses,  public  hospitals,  academies,  colleges,  univer- 
sities and  all  seminaries  of  learning,  all,  churches, 
church  property  used  for  religious  purposes,  and 
houses  of  worship,  institutions  of  purely  public  char- 
ity, public  property  used  for  public  purposes,  and 
personal  property  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  in 
value  two  hundred  dollars  for  each  individual,  shall 
by  general  laws  be  exempt  from  taxation."  Many 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  113 

States  are  careful  to  exempt  household  furniture  to 
a  certain  value.  Thus  the  constitution  of  Texas  pro- 
vides that  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars'  worth  of 
household  and  kitchen  furniture  shall  be  exempt  from 
taxation. 

A  most  important  topic  of  public  finance  is  public 
debt.  The  necessity  of  incurring  debt  in  the  conduct 
of  public  affairs  is  perhaps  stronger  than  it  is  in  the 
management  of  private  business.  Governments  can- 
not accumulate  money;  they  must  confine  taxation 
to  such  amounts  as  are  necessary  to  meet  expenses  for 
the  current  year.  At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  the 
treasury  is  supposed  to  be  virtually  empty.  This  is 
unquestionably  the  correct  policy.  A  government  is 
sorely  tempted  to  be  extravagant  when  it  has  more 
money  on  hand  than  it  needs.  It  has  been  said  with 
some  truth  that  the  way  to  keep  governments  pure  is 
to  keep  them  poor. 

Since  it  cannot  save  for  a  rainy  day,  when  the  rainy 
day  comes,  and  large  sums  of  money  must  be  had  at 
once,  government  must  borrow.  Increased  taxation 
cannot  be  relied  upon  to  supply  the  necessary  revenue. 
In  1863  the  federal  government  used  its  taxing  power 
to  the  utmost  to  raise  the  money  for  the  support  of 
its  war  operations,  yet  it  could  not  collect  by  taxation 
one-sixth  of  what  it  spent  during  the  year.  More 
than  five-sixths  of  its  expenses  had  to  be  met  by  bor- 
rowing. 

When  a  government  wishes  to  raise  money  by  bor- 
rowing, it  usually  sells  its  bonds  to  voluntary  buyers. 


114   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

A  government  bond  resembles  a  promissory  note  given 
by  an  individual  who  borrows  money.  In  the  bond 
are  stated  the  amount  owed  by  the  government,  the 
date  of  payment,  and  the  rate  of  interest. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MONEY 

THE  currency  of  the  United  States  consists  of  gold 
coin,  certificates  representing  gold,  silver  dollars,  cer- 
tificates representing  silver,  subsidiary  coins  of  silver, 
bronze  and  nickel,  United  States  notes  (greenbacks), 
national  bank  notes  and  federal  reserve  notes. 

The  precious  metals — gold  and  silver — are  coined 
under  the  authority  of  Congress.  In  1792  Congress 
provided  that  all  gold  or  silver  brought  to  the  gov- 
ernment mint  should  be  coined  free  of  expense  to  the 
person  bringing  the  metal.  The  relation  that  was  to 
exist  between  the  value  of  gold  and  that  of  silver  was 
stated  in  these  words :  * ( Every  fifteen  pounds  weight 
of  pure  silver  shall  be  equal  value  in  all  payments  with 
one  pound  of  pure  gold."  The  law  of  1792  thus 
provided  for  the  free  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  at 
the  ratio  of  15  to  1.  In  1834  Congress  changed  the 
ratio — placing  it  at  16  to  1.  The  free  coinage  of  the 
two  metals  at  this  ratio  continued  until  1873  when 
Congress  demonetized  silver,  that  is,  discontinued  its 
coinage  entirely. 

The  demonetization  of  silver  proved  to  be  a  very 
unpopular  measure.  Accordingly  Congress  in  1878 
passed  the  "Bland- Allison  Act."  This  provided 

115 


116   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

"that  the  government  should  buy  not  less  than  two  mil- 
lion dollars'  worth,  and  not  more  than  four  million  dol- 
lars' worth  of  silver  bullion  each  month,  and  coin  it 
into  silver  dollars,  these  to  be  full  legal  tender." 
This  law  remained  in  force  for  twelve  years,  during 
which  $378,166,793  in  silver  was  coined,  $57,000,000 
entering  circulation  and  the  remainder  being  de- 
posited in  the  vaults  of  the  Treasury  and  silver  certifi- 
cates being  issued  against  it. 

In  1890  the  Bland- Allison  act  was  repealed  and  the 
Sherman  Act  was  passed,  requiring  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  purchase  at  its  market  value  4,500,000 
ounces  of  silver  each  month  and  pay  for  it  with 
treasury  notes.  A  further  decrease  in  the  value  of 
silver  led  to  a  demand  from  the  holders  of  treasury 
notes  for  redemption  in  gold.  The  Treasury  faith- 
fully redeemed  in  gold,  but  the  fear  that  the  reserve 
would  be  exhausted  and  that  silver,  a  dollar  of  which 
was  worth  only  sixty-seven  cents,  would  be  the  only 
money  available  for  redemption  purposes,  caused  a 
panic  in  the  financial  world.  This  led  to  the  repeal 
(in  1893)  of  the  purchasing  clause  of  the  Sherman 
Act  and  thus  the  issue  of  treasury  notes  ceased. 

Since  1893  coinage  has  been  on  a  gold  basis.  No 
silver  bullion  has  been  purchased  at  the  mints 
for  purposes  of  regular  coinage  since  that  date, 
although  a  considerable  portion  of  that  which  was 
bought  under  the  Sherman  Act  has  been  coined 
as  Congress  has  from  time  to  time  directed.  Under 
a  law  of  1900  gold  was  made  the  standard  unit 
of  value  and  no  provision  was  made  for  the  coinage 


MONEY  117 

of  silver  other  than  that  which  was  already  in  stock. 
Silver  dollars  and  silver  certificates,  however,  are  still 
legal  tender,  and  it  is  the  declared  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  keep  them  on  a  parity  with  gold ;  that  is  to 
say,  when  silver  certificates  are  presented  to  the 
treasury  for  redemption  it  is  the  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  redeem  them  in  gold  at  their  face  value, 
and  if  silver  dollars  are  presented  for  exchange  they 
will  be  exchanged  for  gold,  dollar  for  dollar.  The 
coinage  of  gold  is  free. 

In  addition  to  the  metallic  currency  we  have  in  cir- 
culation a  large  volume  of  paper  currency.  This 
consists  of  bank  notes  and  United  States  notes.  A 
bank  note  is  a  promissory  note,  payable  on  demand, 
made  and  issued  by  a  bank  and  intended  to  circulate 
as  money.  Whether  a  bank  note  will  circulate  as 
money  or  not  ordinarily  depends  upon  the  reputation 
of  the  bank  and  upon  its  ability  to  pay  the  note  when 
presented  for  payment.  If  those  persons  to  whom  the 
note  is  offered  have  no  faith  in  the  bank's  promise 
they  will  not  receive  the  note,  and  its  circulation  is 
thereby  made  impossible.  A  United  States  note 
(greenback)  is  a  form  of  paper  money  issued  by  the 
federal  government  and  based  upon  the  credit  and 
good  faith  of  the  country.  It  is  a  legal  tender  for  all 
debts  public  and  private. 

Paper  money,  called  United  States  notes  or  green- 
backs, was  issued  by  the  government  during  the  Civil 
"War.  When  the  war  was  over  the  government  began 
to  destroy  the  notes  when  they  came  into  the  treas- 
ury, just  as  one  destroys  a  promissory  note  when  it 


118   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

is  paid.  This  policy  continued  until  1868,  when  the 
people  demanded  that  the  notes  continue  in  circula- 
tion. Now  that  the  greenbacks  were  to  remain  in 
circulation  it  was  necessary  to  make  them  as  good  as 
gold.  So  Congress,  in  1875,  passed  the  Redemption 
Act,  which  provided  that  after  January  1st,  1879, 
gold,  dollar  for  dollar,  should  be  paid  when  the  notes 
were  presented  to  the  Treasury  for  redemption.  The 
result  was  that  the  notes  began  to  circulate  at  par. 
Under  the  currency  law  of  1900  the  gold  reserve  in 
the  Treasury  was  increased  to  $150,000,000  to  safe- 
guard the  redemption  of  the  notes.  The  greenbacks 
in  circulation  at  the  present  time  amount  to  about 
$346,000,000. 

In  1863  Congress  created  a  system  of  national 
banks,  which  became  the  basis  of  our  banking  system 
as  it  exists  at  present.  The  national  banking  law  of 
1863  has  been  modified  from  time  to  time,  but  its  es- 
sential features  have  remained  unchanged.  Our  na- 
tional banking  system  as  it  is  to-day  may  be  described 
as  follows : 

(1)  National  banks  with  a  capital  of  $25,000  may 
be  organized  in  towns  of  less  than  3000  inhabitants; 
in  towns  of  more  than  3000  and  less  than  6000  inhab- 
itants the  capital  must  be  $50,000 ;  in  places  of  more 
than  6000  and  less  than  50,000  inhabitants  it  must  be 
$100,000;  in  places  of  more  than  50,000  it  must  be 
$200,000. 

(2)  The  organizers  of  a  bank   (not  less  than  five 
in  number)  must  purchase  United  States  bonds  equal 
in  amount  to  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  capital  of  the 


MONEY  119 

bank  and  deposit  these  bonds  with  the  comptroller  of 
the  currency  at  Washington.  The  bank  remains  the 
owner  of  these  bonds  and  receives  interest  from  them. 

(3)  The  bank  receives  from  the  comptroller  na- 
tional bank  notes  equal  in  amount  to  the  par  value  of 
the  bonds  deposited.     These  bank  notes  are  not  legal 
tender;  they  are  promises  to  pay — like  the  old  notes 
of  the  State  banks ;  like  any  bank  note,  in  fact. 

(4)  The  bank  notes  are  secured  by  the  bonds  in 
the  possession  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States. 
If  a  bank  should  fail  in  business  and  be  unable  to  re- 
deem its  notes  in  legal  tender  money,  the  comptroller 
will  sell  the  bonds  and  get  the  money  with  which  to 
redeem  the  notes.     A  bank  note  is  thus  as  good  as  a 
government  bond,  as  good  as  the  government  itself. 
Banks  frequently  fail,  but  the  holders  of  their  notes 
have  never  lost  a  dollar  by  reason  of  the  failure. 

In  1913,  Congress  established  a  system  of  federal 
reserve  banks.  The  purpose  of  these  banks  is  two- 
fold: to  bring  about  a  more  even  diffusion  through- 
out the  country  of  the  money  that  is  already  in  circu- 
lation; and  second,  to  make  such  additions  to  the 
present  volume  of  currency  as  the  conditions  of  trade 
may  require.  Under  the  federal  reserve  act  the 
United  States  has  been  marked  off  geographically 
into  twelve  districts  and  in  one  of  the  cities  of  each 
district  there  has  been  established  a  federal  reserve 
bank.  The  cities  which  have  federal  reserve  banks 
are:  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Cleveland, 
Richmond,  Atlanta,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Minneapolis, 
Kansas  City  (Missouri),  Dallas,  and  San  Francisco. 


120   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

The  members  and  owners  of  a  federal  reserve  bank 
are  the  national  banks  within  the  district  and  sneh 
State  banks  and  trust  companies  as  may  choose  to 
join  under  the  conditions  laid  down  by  the  law.  The 
federal  reserve  bank  is  a  bank  of  banks :  its  depositors 
are  the  member  banks  and  the  deposits  in  its  vaults 
consist  of  a  certain  specified  portion  of  the  reserve 
fund  which  the  member  banks  within  the  district  are 
required  by  law  to  keep  in  their  possession  for  the 
safety  of  their  customers.  The  borrowers  from  a  re- 
serve bank  are  the  member  banks  within  the  district. 
Before  1914,  a  very  large  portion  of  the  reserves  of 
banks  flowed  into  two  or  three  financial  centers  and 
there  was  a  harmful  congestion  of  money  in  those 
centers,  but  under  the  act  of  1913  the  reserves  of  the 
banks  of  a  given  district  will  be  kept  within  the 
boundaries  of  that  district  and  congestion  will  be  pre- 
vented. Yet  under  certain  conditions  reserves  may 
flow  from  one  district  to  another,  for  in  an  emergency 
funds  may  be  transferred  from  one  reserve  bank  to 
another,  if  in  the  judgment  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Board,  the  transfer  is  desirable. 

Additions  to  the  existing  volume  of  currency  are 
made  under  the  act  of  1913  by  the  issuance  of  federal 
reserve  notes  by  any  federal  reserve  bank  that  desires 
to  issue  such  notes,  but  no  federal  reserve  notes  can 
be  issued  without  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Board.  Federal  reserve  notes  are  secured  not  by 
bonds,  as  in  the  case  of  national  bank  notes,  but  by 
a  gold  reserve  equal  to  40%  of  the  face  value  of  the 
note  plus  an  amount  of  commercial  paper  (promis- 


MONEY  121 

sory  notes)  equal  to  100%  of  the  face  value.  Fur- 
thermore, the  United  States  Treasury  is  pledged  to 
redeem  in  gold  all  federal  reserve  notes  actually  pre- 
sented to  it  for  redemption. 

The  federal  reserve  banks  are  wholly  under  the 
control  of  the  Federal  Reserve  Board.  This  Board 
consists  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  Comp- 
troller of  the  Currency,  and  of  five  members  appointed 
by  the  President. 

In  1916  Congress  provided  for  the  establishment 
of  twelve  Farm  Loan  Banks,  whose  primary  purpose 
is  to  enable  farmers  to  borrow  money  on  farm-mort- 
gage security  at  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest  for 
long  periods  of  time,  and  repay  the  debt  in  small  an- 
nual or  semi-annual  payments.  These  banks  are  un- 
der the  control  of  the  Farm  Loan  Board. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  our  monetary  sys- 
tem: 

(1)  The  federal  government  has  complete  control 
of  all  currency  issues  whether  metallic  or  paper  and 
may  issue  legal  tender  paper  money  as  well  as  gold 
and  silver  currency. 

(2)  The  gold  dollar  of  23.22  grains  is  the  unit  of 
monetary  value,   and   the   coinage   of   gold   is   free. 
The  amount  of  gold  coined  from  year  to   year  is 
wholly  a  matter  of  private  initiative.     Government 
does  not  regulate  it.     The  amount  is  regulated  by 
supply  and  demand — the  supply  of  gold  bullion  and 
the  demand  for  gold  coin. 

(3)  Silver  dollars  and  silver  certificates,  the  treas- 
ury notes  of  1890,  federal  reserve  notes  and  United 


122   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

States  notes  (greenbacks)  are  exchangeable  for  gold 
at  their  face  value  upon  presentation  at  the  treasury 
of  the  United  States. 

(4)  This  redemption  is  made  possible  by  the  re- 
serve fund  of  $150,000,000  in  gold  and  other  reserves 
in  gold  which  are  at  the  command  of  the  government. 

(5)  The  paper  money,  when  redeemed  with  gold, 
is  again  used  by  the  government  in  the  payment  of  its 
debts,  and  thus  again  finds  its  way  into  circulation. 

(6)  The  volume   of  money   in   circulation   is   in- 
creased by  the  coinage  of  gold  at  the  mints  and  by 
the  notes  issued  by  the  national  banks  and  the  federal 
reserve  banks. 

(7)  Bank  notes  are  as  good  as  gold  because  the  gov- 
ernment bonds,  and  other  securities  which  are  back 
of  them,  are  as  good  as  gold. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

COMMERCE 

IN  the  United  States  power  in  respect  to  commerce 
is  divided  between  the  State  and  the  federal  govern- 
ment. Foreign  commerce,  interstate  commerce  and 
commerce  with  Indian  tribes  (47)  are  regulated  by 
Congress,  while  the  regulation  of  commerce  carried 
on  wholly  within  the  boundaries  of  a  State  is  the  func- 
tion of  the  State  government. 

From  the  beginning  of  our  national  history  to  the 
present  time  two  distinct  policies  have  been  advanced 
in  reference  to  foreign  goods:  (1)  the  free-trade  pol- 
icy and  (2)  the  policy  of  protection.  The  adherents 
of  the  free-trade  policy,  regarding  free  commercial 
intercourse  between  nations  as  a  good  thing  in  itself, 
contend  that  taxes  on  foreign  goods  should  be  levied, 
not  with  the  view  of  keeping  the  goods  out  of  the 
country,  but  with  the  view  of  raising  the  necessary 
revenue,  and  with  that  view  only.  The  adherents  of 
the  protective  policy,  desiring  to  protect  home  pro- 
ducers from  competition  with  foreign  goods,  would 
levy  the  customs,  not  so  much  with  the  view  of  raising 
revenue,  as  with  the  view  of  at  least  discouraging  im- 
portations. 

The  essence  of  the  free-trade  argument  is  that,  un- 

123 


124   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

der  normal  conditions  of  production  and  competition, 
a  country  will  satisfy  its  needs  with  the  least  possible 
effort.  Those  things  that  can  be  produced  with  the 
greatest  economy  at  home  will  be  so  produced,  and 
any  surplus  will  be  exchanged  abroad  for  what  other 
nations  can  produce  with  less  effort.  Commerce  be- 
tween two  countries,  each  of  which  produces  accord- 
ing to  its  natural  resources,  is  always  profitable  to 
both  countries,  the  free-traders  contend,  for  each 
country  exchanges  that  which  it  wants  less  for  that 
which  it  wants  more. 

The  argument  of  the  protectionist  is  that  by  im- 
posing high  import  duties  upon  certain  classes  of 
goods  and  thereby  partly  or  wholly  keeping  them  out 
of  the  country  you  encourage  the  production  of  those 
goods  at  home,  and  this  encouragement  results  in  new 
occupations  and  in  a  diversified  industry  at  home. 
The  additional  producers  thus  called  into  being  by 
the  protective  tariff  are  also  consumers,  and  they  buy 
at  least  a  part  of  the  country's  surplus.  Another 
argument  for  protection  is  based  upon  the  difference 
in  the  standards  of  comfort  and  rates  of  wages  in 
different  countries.  If  there  were  no  tariff  hindrances 
the  lower  standard  and  the  lower  wage  would  be 
given  the  advantage  in  competition  and  workmen 
would  suffer  as  a  result. 

Since  passengers  as  well  as  goods  are  included  in 
the  term  commerce,  immigration  is  regulated  by  Con- 
gress. During  the  greater  part  of  our  history  we 
encouraged  immigration,  for  in  the  development  of 
our  country  we  needed  all  the  brain  and  muscle  we 


COMMERCE  125 

could  get.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  millions  of  immi- 
grants who  have  come  to  us  from  England,  Ireland, 
Scotland,  Germany,  Russia,  Norway,  Sweden,  France, 
Italy,  a  large  part  of  our  country  would  still  be  a 
wilderness. 

About  1880  Americans  began  to  feel  that  immigra- 
tion on  a  large  scale  was  no  longer  desirable,  and 
demanded  that  restraints  be  placed  upon  the  admis- 
sion of  foreigners.  First  the  Chinese  were  excluded. 
In  1882  Congress,  in  defiance  of  a  treaty  with  China, 
prohibited  Chinese  laborers  from  coming  into  the 
United  States,  and  but  few  of  these  people  have  en- 
tered since  the  exclusion  law  was  passed.  In  the 
same  year  Congress  ordered  that  the  character  of  all 
immigrants  be  looked  into  and  commanded  that  con- 
victs, lunatics,  idiots  and  other  persons  not  able  to 
take  care  of  themselves  should  not  be  admitted  into 
the  United  States,  but  should  be  sent  back  at  the 
expense  of  the  owners  of  the  vessels  upon  which  they 
came.  By  a  law  of  1885  it  is  made  unlawful  for 
certain  classes  of  laborers  to  enter  the  United  States, 
if  they  have  previously  entered  into  a  contract  to 
perform  labor  here,  and  any  person  brought  here  un- 
der a  contract  to  perform  labor  can  be  sent  back  at 
the  expense  of  the  vessel  which  brings  him  here.  As 
a  further  restriction  upon  immigration  Congress  has 
imposed  a  tax  upon  immigrants  of  eight  dollars  per 
person  and  has  prohibited  the  admission  of  any  illit- 
erate alien  who  is  over  sixteen  years  of  age.  These 
restrictive  laws  have  had  the  effect  of  checking  im- 
migration to  some  extent,  but  they  have  by  no  means 


126       THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

solved  the  immigration  problem:  they  have  by  no 
means  been  successful  in  keeping  out  all  undesirable 
foreigners  and  letting  in  only  those  whose  presence  is 
beneficial. 

I.  Interstate  Commerce  Defined.  Domestic  com- 
merce is  that  which  is  carried  on  within  the  United 
States,  and  consists  of  interstate  commerce  and  intra- 
state  commerce.  It  is  not  easy  to  draw  clearly  the 
line  which  separates  interstate  from  intrastate  com- 
merce. Broadly  speaking,  when  a  commercial  trans- 
action begins  in  one  State  and  ends  in  another,  that 
transaction  is  a  subject  of  interstate  commerce,  but 
when  a  commercial  transaction  begins  and  ends  in 
the  same  State  it  is  a  subject  of  intrastate  commerce. 
When  a  merchant  ships  his  goods  to  a  point  within 
a  State  he  engages  in  intrastate  commerce;  when  he 
ships  them  to  a  point  outside  of  the  State  he  is  en- 
gaged in  interstate  commerce.  A  railroad  which  has 
its  termini  and  the  whole  length  of  its  tracks  within 
the  State  cannot  be  regarded  as  being  engaged  in  in- 
terstate commerce,  but  a  railroad  which  has  its  termini 
in  different  States  must  be  so  regarded.  A  river 
lying  wholly  within  a  State  and  having  no  connec- 
tion with  bodies  of  water  extending  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  State — a  thing  which  rarely  ever 
occurs — is  an  instrument  of  intrastate  commerce,  but 
a  river  wholly  within  a  State  connecting  with  navi- 
gable waters  that  extend  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the 
State  is  regarded  as  an  instrument  of  interstate  com- 
merce. Does  a  certain  commercial  act  or  a  certain 
instrument  of  commerce,  a  river,  a  canal,  a  railroad, 


COMMERCE  127 

concern  one  State  or  more  than  one?  If  it  concerns 
one  State  only  it  is  an  affair  of  intrastate  commerce; 
if  it  concerns  more  than  one  State  it  is  an  affair  of 
interstate  commerce. 

II.  The  Regulation  of  Interstate  Commerce.    The 
men  of  the  convention  treated  the  whole  subject  of 
commerce  with  a  firm  hand.     They  gave  to  Congress 
complete  power  to  regulate  commerce  between  the 
States   (47).     They  forbade  a  State  to  lay  tonnage 
(76)  or  any  export  or  import  duty  without  the  con- 
sent of  Congress   (74).     Within  its  borders  a  State 
can  regulate  its  commerce  in  its  own  way,  but  goods 
and  passengers  that  are  on  their  way  from  one  State 
to  another  are  placed  under  the  regulation  of  the 
federal  government. 

The  power  of  Congress  over  interstate  commerce  is 
comprehensive  and  far-reaching.  It  extends  to  the 
instruments  of  commerce, — to  canals  and  vessels  and 
railways  and  telegraph  lines,  and  to  the  persons  en- 
gaged in  it,  as  well  as  to  the  articles  of  commerce 
themselves.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  interstate 
commerce  clause  a  State  is  not  permitted  to  discrim- 
inate by  taxation  or  otherwise  against  residents  of 
other  States,  or  against  business  carried  on  by  them 
in  the  State. 

III.  The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.    The 
most  important  agency  for  regulating  interstate  com- 
merce is  the  Interstate   Commerce   Commission    (p. 
35),   which   was   established    by    Congress   in    1887. 
The  law  which  created  this  commission  requires  that 
freight  and  passenger  rates  shall  be  just  and  rea- 


128   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

sonable,  that  there  shall  be  no  discrimination  between 
persons  and  localities;  it  provides  that  there  shall  be 
proper  facilities  for  the  interchange  of  traffic  between 
connecting  lines ;  it  forbids  the  issuance  of  free  inter- 
state passes ;  it  requires  that  railroads  print  and  make 
public  their  freight  and  passenger  rates.  A  supple- 
mental law  (the  Elkins  law,  passed  in  1903)  forbids 
rebates  and  provides  that  rates  lower  than  those  pub- 
lished shall  not  be  charged.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  In- 
terstate Commerce  Commission  to  carry  these  provi- 
sions into  effect. 

In  1906  Congress  gave  the  Commission,  upon  the 
complaint  of  an  interstate  shipper  (or  passenger),  the 
power  to  do  away  with  a  rate  which  it  regards  as  un- 
just or  unreasonable,  and  to  fix  a  new  rate  which  it 
regards  as  just  and  reasonable.  In  1910  Congress 
went  a  step  further  and  empowered  the  Commission 
to  make  investigations  of  its  own  motion,  and  when 
it  finds  certain  rates  unreasonable  and  unjust,  to 
change  them,  even  though  there  has  been  no  complaint 
whatever.  Moreover,  by  the  law  of  1910  new  rates 
may  be  suspended  in  their  operation  by  the  order  of 
the  Commission,  and  if  upon  investigation  they  are 
found  by  that  body  to  be  unjust  and  unreasonable  they 
cannot  go  into  operation  at  all.  The  railroads,  how- 
ever, have  the  right  to  appeal  to  the  federal  courts 
where  the  decisions  of  the  Commission  may  be  over- 
ruled. The  control  which  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  exercises  over  railroad  rates  makes  it  an 
agency  of  vast  importance  and  power. 

In  1916  Congress  created  a  Shipping  Board  for  the 


COMMERCE  129 

purpose  of  encouraging,  developing  and  creating  a 
naval  auxiliary  and  reserve  and  a  merchant  marine 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States.  The  Board  is  composed  of  five  com- 
missioners appointed  by  the  President.  The  Board 
is  authorized  to  purchase,  lease,  or  charter  vessels 
suitable  for  marine  trade  and  it  may  operate  such 
vessels  itself  or  lease  them  to  be  operated  by  others. 
It  has  large  powers  in  respect  to  the  regulation  of  the 
rates  and  fares  charged  by  vessels  engaged  in  foreign 
or  interstate  commerce. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

CORPORATIONS 

I.  Individual  Enterprise.  The  great  private  cor- 
poration of  to-day  is  the  outcome  of  changes  which 
have  been  occurring  in  commerce  and  industry  dur- 
ing the  last  two  centuries.  Before  the  eighteenth 
century  commerce  and  industry  were  organized  on 
the  basis  of  individual  effort.  Cloth  was  woven  in  a 
shop  in  which  there  was  but  one  loom,  and  the  oper- 
ator of  the  loom  was  its  owner.  The  man  who  ground 
the  grain  was  the  owner  of  the  mill.  Shoes  were  made 
by  the  owner  of  the  shop.  Passengers  were  con- 
veyed from  town  to  town  in  a  coach  owned  by  its 
driver.  And  so  it  was  in  all  the  trades  and  occupa- 
tions :  they  were  all  organized  and  conducted  on  the 
basis  of  individual  enterprise. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  great 
change  began  to  come  over  the  face  of  industry.  In 
1733  John  Kay  invented  the  flying  shuttle  and  thereby 
doubled  the  efficiency  of  the  loom.  A  few  years  later 
water  power  was  applied  to  the  loom.  One  man  could 
now  operate  two  looms,  and  could  weave  four  times  as 
much  cloth  as  could  be  woven  before.  In  1769  Ark- 
wright  brought  out  his  wonderful  spinning-machine, 
and  in  the  same  year  Watt  patented  his  condensing 

130 


CORPORATIONS  131 

steam-engine.  These  inventions  reorganized  the  tex- 
tile industry.  Instead  of  the  little  shop  with  its 
single  loom  and  weaver,  there  appeared  the  great  fac- 
tory with  its  hundreds  of  looms  and  scores  of  oper- 
ators. As  it  was  with  weaving,  so  it  was  with  other 
industries :  inventions  and  improved  machinery  caused 
nearly  all  of  them  to  be  conducted  on  a  new  plan. 

II.  The  Partnership.     How  was  this  reorganiza- 
tion accomplished?     How  were  the  humble  shops  of 
the  seventeenth  century  transformed  into  the  huge 
factories  of  the  eighteenth  century?     By  a  combina- 
tion of  the  wealth  and  services  of  individuals.     The 
single  craftsman  did  not  have  enough  money  to  build 
a  factory  and  equip  it  with  machinery,  so  several 
persons  combined  their  capital  and  formed  a  partner- 
ship.    The  partnership  as  a  legal  form  of  business 
association  is  almost  as  old  as  recorded  history,  yet  it 
had  never  before  been  brought  into  such  frequent 
use  as  during  the  industrial  revolution  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.     The  two  important  legal  character- 
istics of  a  partnership  are:     (1)  the  partners  are  in- 
dividually liable  for  the  debts  of  the  partnership; 
(2)  the  death  of  one  of  the  partners  brings  the  part- 
nership to  an  end.     A  partner  is  liable,  therefore,  to 
lose  his  entire  fortune  in  paying  the  debts  of  the 
partnership,    and    the    partnership    is   liable   to   be 
brought  to  an  end  at  any  moment. 

III.  The    Corporation.    The    colossal    enterprises 
which  were  inspired  by  the  appearance  of  the  steam- 
boat and  the  locomotive  and  the  telegraph  in  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century  could  not  be  satisfac- 


132   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

torily  conducted  under  the  partnership  form  of  as- 
sociation. Here  was  a  railroad  to  be  built  at  a  cost 
of  five  million  dollars.  The  people  of  the  region 
through  which  the  road  was  to  pass  favored  the  en- 
terprise and  were  ready  to  invest  their  funds  in  it, 
but  men  with  money  were  loath  to  enter  into  a  part- 
nership for  building  the  road  because  they  feared  that 
the  enterprise  might  fail  and  that  they  might  be 
ruined  by  the  debts  of  the  partnership.  Besides  they 
could  not  tell  when  the  enterprise  would  be  brought 
to  an  end  by  the  death  of  a  partner.  To  meet  these 
objections  of  investors  the  corporation  was  brought 
into  use.  The  corporation  does  not  die  with  the 
death  of  a  member  but  lives  on  for  the  period 
given  to  it  by  law,  if  that  is  for  a  thousand  years. 
This  immortality  of  the  corporation  gives  time  for  the 
accomplishment  of  great  things.  Another  advantage 
of  the  corporation  over  the  partnership  is  that  the 
shareholders  in  a  corporation  are  not  individually 
liable  for  the  entire  debt  of  the  company.  Further- 
more, the  shares  in  a  corporation  can  be  easily  and 
quickly  transferred  and  sold  when  the  holder  wishes 
to  dispose  of  them.  Through  the  agency  of  the  cor- 
poration the  building  of  the  coveted  railroad  was 
made  possible.  To  raise  the  money  fifty  thousand 
shares  of  one  hundred  dollars  each  were  offered  to 
the  farmers  and  merchants  and  mechanics  and  capital- 
ists of  the  communities  to  be  benefited  by  the  road,  and 
shares  were  taken  according  to  each  one's  ability  and 
willingness  to  invest,  some  taking  a  single  share,  others 
ten  shares,  others  a  hundred  shares.  In  this  way 


CORPORATIONS  133 

thousands  of  people  assisted  in  the  building  of  the 
road  and  in  the  development  of  the  country,  and  thou- 
sands shared  in  the  profits.  As  it  was  with  the  rail- 
road, so  it  was  with  many  other  undertakings :  about 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  corporation 
began  to  be  brought  into  general. use  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  industry  and  commerce. 

The  charters  under  which  corporations  conduct 
business  are  nearly  always  granted  by  State  author- 
ity. The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  no 
specific  provisions  in  reference  to  corporations,  yet 
Congress  can  and  does  grant  charters  to  corporations 
organized  for  carrying  on  enterprises  which  come 
within  the  range  of  federal  authority.  For  example, 
Congress  under  its  power  to  regulate  the  currency  has 
granted  charters  to  national  banks;  under  its  power 
to  regulate  interstate  commerce  it  has  granted  charters 
to  transcontinental  railway  companies.  As  a  rule, 
however,  the  creation  and  regulation  of  corporations 
are  State  functions.  How  important  these  functions 
are  may  be  seen  in  the  State  constitutions,  where  the 
article  on  corporations  sometimes  requires  as  much 
space  as  is  given  to  one  of  the  three  great  departments. 
"  Formerly, "  says  Justice  Brewer,  "  there  were  two 
factors,  the  individual  and  the  State;  now  there  are 
three,  the  individual,  the  State  and  the  corporation." 

About  1880  the  great  corporations  began  to  devise 
methods  of  protecting  themselves  against  the  ravages 
of  competition.  While  competition  gives  life  to  trade 
it  at  the  same  time  plays  havoc  with  profits.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  in  these  times,  when  a  salesman  with 


134   THE  WOMAN  VOTER'S  MANUAL 

the  aid  of  the  telephone  and  telegraph  can  do  as  much 
higgling  and  bargaining  in  an  hour  as  could  be  done 
a  hundred  years  ago  in  a  month,  and  when  new 
inventions  and  processes  are  constantly  reducing  the 
cost  of  production.  So  in  order  to  stifle  competition, 
the  corporations  began  to  pool  their  interests  and 
enter  into  agreements  as  to  prices  and  as  to  the  amount 
of  goods  to  be  produced.  In  a  few  years  corporate 
combination  had  been  carried  so  far  that  it  seemed 
that  the  principle  of  competition  in  business  would 
have  to  die  and  that  the  principle  of  monopoly  would 
be  established.  Now  monopoly  is  not  only  contrary 
to  the  constitutions  of  most  of  the  States,  but  it  is  also 
contrary  to  the  commercial  instincts  of  the  American 
people.  So  in  order  to  check  the  growth  of  monopoly, 
Congress,  in  1890,  passed  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust 
Act.  This  famous  statute  declares  that  every  con- 
tract, combination  in  the  form  of  trust  or  otherwise, 
or  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade,  or  commerce 
among  the  several  States,  is  illegal,  and  it  provides 
that  persons  entering  into  such  contracts  or  engaged 
in  such  combinations  shall  be  liable  to  a  heavy  fine  or 
to  imprisonment,  or  to  both  fine  and  imprisonment. 

The  Anti-Trust  law  did  not  prevent  the  growth  of 
corporate  combinations.  The  corporations  continued 
to  merge  and  blend  their  interests  and  by  the  opening 
of  the  twentieth  century,  one-third  of  the  total  prod- 
ucts of  all  industries,  excluding  that  of  agriculture, 
had  been  brought  under  the  control  of  corporate  com- 
binations, or  trusts  so-called. 

Congress    in    1913    undertook    to    strengthen    the 


CORPORATIONS  135 

Sherman  Law  by  passing  a  supplementary  act  known 
as  the  Clayton  Trust  Bill.  The  Clayton  law  makes 
it  unlawful  for  any  concern  to  discriminate  in 
price  between  different  purchasers  where  the  ef- 
fect of  such  discrimination  is  substantially  to  lessen 
competition  or  create  a  monopoly  in  any  line  of 
trade;  it  forbids  any  corporation  from  acquiring 
the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  stock  of  another  corpo- 
ration where  the  effect  of  such  acquisition  may  sub- 
stantially lessen  competition  between  the  corporation 
whose  stock  is  so  acquired  and  the  corporation  making 
the  acquisition;  it  forbids  directors  in  certain  classes 
of  corporations  to  serve  as  directors  in  corporations 
conducting  the  same  line  of  business.  In  1914  Con- 
gress took  another  step  forward  in  the  warfare  against 
monopoly.  It  declared  unfair  methods  of  competition 
to  be  unlawful  and  it  established  the  Federal  Trade 
Commission  and  gave  it  power  to  prevent  persons, 
partnerships,  and  corporations  (excepting  banks  and 
railroads)  from  using  unfair  methods  in  trade.  This 
commission  is  composed  of  five  members  appointed  by 
the  President  at  a  salary  of  $10,000  a  year.  When 
the  commission  finds  that  a  person  or  corporation  is 
using  unfair  methods  of  competition  it  may  order  the 
offender  to  desist  and  if  the  order  is  not  obeyed  the 
offender  is  liable  to  be  brought  before  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals  where  the  order  of  the  Commission 
may  be  affirmed  or  set  aside  as  the  court  shall  deter- 
mine. If  the  order  is  affirmed  the  offender  is  liable 
to  be  punished  if  he  does  not  desist  from  his  unfair 
practices. 


APPENDIX  A 

[THE  CONSTITUTION 

OF    THE 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA] 

THE  PEOPLE  of  the  United  States,  in  Or-  1 
der  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  establish 
Justice,  insure  domestic  Tranquillity,  pro- 
vide for  the  common  defence,  promote  the 
general  Welfare,  and  secure  the  Blessings 
of  Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  Posterity, 
do  ordain  and  establish  this  CONSTITUTION 
for  the  United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  I 

SECTION  1.     All    legislative    Powers    herein 
granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  2 
United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Sen- 
ate and  House  of  Representatives. 

SECTION  2.     The  House  of  Representatives 
shall  be  composed  of  Members  chosen  every  3 
137 


138  APPENDIX  A 

second  Year  by  the  People  of  the  several 
States,  and  the  Electors  in  each  State  shall 

4  have  the  Qualifications  requisite  for  Electors 
of  the  most  numerous  Branch  of  the  State 
Legislature. 

No  Person  shall  be  a  Representative  who 

5  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty- 
five   Years,   and   been   seven  Years   a   Citi- 
zen of   the    United   States,    and   who   shall 

6  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant  of  that 
State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  Taxes  shall  be 
apportioned  among  the  several  States  which 
may  be  included  within  this  Union,  accord- 
ing to  their  respective  Numbers,  which  shall 
be  determined  by  adding  to  the  whole  Num- 
ber of  free  Persons,  including  those  bound  to 
Service  for  a  Term  of  Years,  and  excluding 
Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other 
Persons.*  The  actual  Enumeration  shall  be 
made  within  three  Years  after  the  first 
9  Meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  within  every  subsequent  Term  of  ten 
Years,  in  such  Manner  as  they  shall  by  Law 

10  direct.     The  Number  of  Representatives  shall 
not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  Thousand,  but 
each  State  shall  have  at  Least  one  Repre- 
sentative; and  until  such  enumeration  shall 
be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall 

11  be    entitled   to    chuse    three,    Massachusetts 
eight,  Rhode- Island  and  Providence  Planta- 


APPENDIX  A  139 

tions  one,  Connecticut  five,  New  York  six, 
New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight,  Dela- 
ware one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North 
Carolina  five,  South  Carolina  five,  and 
Georgia  three. 

When    vacancies    happen    in    the    Repre-  12 
sentation  from  any  State,  the  Executive  Au- 
thority thereof  shall  issue  Writs  of  Election 
to  fill  such  Vacancies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  chuse  13 
their  Speaker  and  other  Officers;  and  shall  14 
have  the  sole  Power  of  Impeachment. 

SECTION  3.     The  Senate  of  the  United  States 
shall   be   composed   of   two    Senators   from  15 
each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof, 
for  six  Years;  and  each  Senator  shall  have 
one  Vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled 
in  Consequence  of  the  first  Election,  they 
shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into 
three  Classes.  The  Seats  of  the  Senators  of 
the  first  Class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  Expi- 
ration of  the  second  Year,  of  the  second  Class 
at  the  Expiration  of  the  fourth  Year,  and  of 
the  third  Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the 
sixth  Year,  so  that  one-third  may  be  chosen  16 
every  second  Year ;  and  if  Vacancies  happen 
by  Resignation,  or  otherwise,  during  the  Re- 
cess of  the  Legislature  of  any  State,  the 
Executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  Ap- 


140  APPENDIX  A 

17  pointments  until  the  next  Meeting  of  the  Leg- 
islature, .  which  shall  then  fill  such  Vacan- 
cies. 

No  Person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not 

18  have  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty  Years,  and 
been   nine   Years   a   citizen   of   the   United 
States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an 

19  Inhabitant  of  that  State  for  which  he  shall 
be  chosen. 

The  Vice  President  of  the  United  States 

20  shall  be  President  of  the  Senate,  but  shall 
have  no  Vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided. 

The  Senate  shall  chuse  their  other  Officers, 

21  and  also  a  President  pro  tempore,  in  the  Ab- 
sence of  the  Vice  President,  or  when  he  shall 
exercise  the  Office  of  President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  Power  to  try 
all  Impeachments.  When  sitting  for  that 
Purpose,  they  shall  be  on  Oath  or  Affirma- 
tion. When  the  President  of  the  United 

22  States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  pre- 
side :  And  no  Person  shall  be  convicted  with- 
out the   Concurrence  of  two-thirds   of  the 
Members  present. 

Judgment  in  Cases  of  Impeachment  shall 
not  extend  further  than  to  removal  from 
Office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy 
any  Office  of  honor,  Trust  or  Profit  under  the 

23  United  States:  but  the  Part}'  convicted  shall 
nevertheless  be  liable  and  subject  to  indict- 


APPENDIX  A  141 

ment,  Trial,  Judgment  and  Punishment,  ac- 
cording to  Law. 

SECTION  4.  The  Times,  Places  and  Manner 
of  holding  Elections  for  Senators  and  "Rep- 
resentatives, shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State 
by  the  Legislature  thereof ;  but  the  Congress  24 
may  at  any  time  by  Law  make  or  alter  such 
Regulations,  except  as  to  the  Places  of  chus- 
ing  Senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once 
in  every  Year,  and  such  Meeting  shall  be  on  25 
the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they 
shall  by  Law  appoint  a  different  Day. 

SECTION  5.     Each  House  shall  be  the  Judge  26 
of  the  Elections,  Returns  and  Qualifications 
of  its  own  Members,  and  a  Majority  of  each 
shall  constitute  a  Quorum  to  do  business;  27 
but  a  smaller  Number  may  adjourn  from  day 
to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the 
Attendance  of  absent  Members,  in  such  Man- 
ner, and  under  such  Penalties  as  each  House 
may  provide. 

Each  House  may  determine  the  Rules  of  28 
its  Proceedings,  punish  its  Members  for  dis- 
orderly Behaviour,   and,  with  the   Concur- 
rence of  two-thirds,  expel  a  Member.  29 
•     Each  House  shall  keep  a  Journal  of  its 
Proceedings,  and  from  time  to  time  publish 
the  same,  excepting  such  Parts  as  may  in 


142  APPENDIX  A 

their  Judgment  require  Secrecy;  and  the 
Yeas  and  Nays  of  the  Members  of  either 
House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire 

30  of  one-fifth  of  those  Present,  be  entered  on 
the  Journal. 

Neither  House,  during  the  Session  of  Con- 

31  gress,  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  other, 
adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any 
other    Place   than    that    in    which    the   two 
Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

SECTION  6.     The  Senators  and  Representa- 

32  tives  shall  receive  a  Compensation  for  their 
Services,  to  be  ascertained  by  Law,  and  paid 
out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States. 
They  shall  in  all  Cases,  except  Treason,  Fel- 

33  ony  and  Breach  of  the  Peace,  be  privileged 
from  Arrest  during  their  Attendance  at  the 
Session  of  their  respective  Houses,  and  in 
going  to  and  returning  from  the  same;  and 
for  any  Speech  or  Debate  in  either  House, 
they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other 
Place. 

No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during 

34  the  Time  for  which  he  was  elected,  be  ap- 
pointed to  any  civil  Office  under  the  Au- 
thority of  the   United   States,   which   shall 
have    been    created,    or    the     Emoluments 
whereof  shall  have  been   en  creased  during 

35  such  time;  and  no  Person  holding  any  Office 
under  the  United  States,  shall  be  a  Member 


APPENDIX  A  143 

of  either  House  during  his  Continuance  in 
Office. 

SECTION  7.     All   Bills  for  raising   Revenue  36 
shall  originate  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur 
with  Amendments  as  on  other  Bills. 

Every  Bill   which  shall  have  passed  the  37 
House  of  Representatives   and   the   Senate, 
shall,  before  it  become  a  Law,  be  presented  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States ;  If  he  ap- 
prove he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not  he  shall  re-  38 
turn  it,  with  his  Objections  to  that  House  in 
which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  en- 
ter the  Objections  at  large  on  their  Journal, 
and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.     If  after  such 
Reconsideration    two-thirds    of    that    House  39 
shall  agree  to  pass  the  Bill,  it  shall  be  sent, 
together  with  the  Objections,  to  the  other 
House,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  recon- 
sidered, and   if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  40 
that  House,  it  shall  become  a  Law.     But  in 
all  such  Cases  the  Votes  of  both  Houses  shall 
be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  the 
Names  of  the  Persons  voting  for  and  against 
the  Bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  Journal  of 
each  House  respectively.     If  any  Bill  shall 
not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  41 
Days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have 
been  presented  to  him,  the  Same  shall  be  a 
Law,  in  like  Manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it, 


144  APPENDIX  A 

unless  the  Congress  by  their  Adjournment 
prevent  its  Return,  in  which  Case  it  shall  not 
be  a  Law. 

42  Every  Order,  Resolution,  or  Vote  to  which 
the  Concurrence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except  on 
a  question  of  Adjournment)  shall  be  pre- 
43  sented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States ; 
and  before  the  Same  shall  take  Effect,  shall 
be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disapproved 
by  him,  shall  be  repassed  by  two-thirds  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
according  to  the  Rules  and  Limitations  pre- 
scribed in  the  Case  of  a  Bill. 

44  SECTION  8.     The  Congress  shall  have  Power 
to  lay  and  collect  Taxes,  Duties,  Imposts  and 
Excises,  to  pay  the  Debts  and  provide  for  the 

45  common  Defence  and  general  Welfare  of  the 
United  States;  but  all  Duties,  Imposts  and 
Excises    shall    be    uniform    throughout    the 
United  States ; 

46  To  borrow  money  on  the   credit   of  the 
United  States ; 

47  To  regulate  Commerce  with  foreign  Na- 
tions, and  among,  the  several  States,  and  with 
the  Indian  Tribes; 

48  To  establish  an  uniform  Rule  of  Natural- 
ization, and  uniform  Laws  on  the  subject  of 
Bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States; 

49  To  coin  Money,  regulate  the  Value  thereof, 


APPENDIX  A  145 

and  of  foreign  Coin,  and  fix  the  Standard 
of  Weights  and  Measures ; 

To  provide  for  the  Punishment  of  coun-  50 
terfeiting  the  Securities  and  current  Coin  of 
the  United  States; 

To  establish  Post  Offices  and  post  Roads;  51 

To  promote  the  Progress  of  Science  and 
useful  Arts,  by  securing  for  limited  Times  52 
to  Authors  and  Inventors  the  exclusive  Right 
to  their  respective  Writings  and  Discoveries ; 

To   constitute   Tribunals   inferior  to   the  53 
supreme  Court; 

To  define  and  punish  Piracies  and  Felonies  54 
committed  on  the  high  Seas,  and  Offences 
against  the  Law  of  Nations ; 

To  declare  War,  grant  Letters  of  Marque  55 
and   Reprisal,   and  make   Rules  concerning 
Captures  on  Land  and  Water ; 

To  raise  and  support  Armies,  but  no  Ap-  56 
propriation  of  Money  to  that  Use  shall  be  for 
a  longer  Term  than  two  Years ; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy ;  57 

To  make  Rules  for  the  Government  and  58 
Regulation  of  the  land  and  naval  Forces; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  Militia  to  59 
execute  the  Laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  In- 
surrections and  repel  Invasions; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and 
disciplining,  the  Militia,  and  for  governing 
such  Part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the 
Service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to 


146  APPENDIX  A 

the  States  respectively  the  Appointment  of 

60  the  officers,  and  the  Authority  of  training 
the  Militia  according  to  the  discipline  pre- 
scribed by  Congress; 

61  To   exercise   exclusive   Legislation   in   all 
Cases  whatsoever,   over  such   District    (not 
exceeding  ten  Miles  square)  as  may,  by  Ces- 
sion of  particular  States,  and  the  Acceptance 
of  Congress,  become  the  Seat  of  the  Govern- 

62  ment  and  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exer- 
cise   like    Authority    over    all    Places    pur- 
chased by  the  Consent  of  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  in  which  the  Same  shall  be,  for  the 
Erection    of    Forts,    Magazines,     Arsenals, 
dock- Yards,  and  other  needful  Buildings; — 
And 

63  To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  neces- 
sary and  proper  for  carrying  into  Execution 
the  foregoing  Powers,  and  all  other  Powers 
vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  Depart- 
ment or  Officer  thereof. 

[SECTION  9.  The  Migration  or  Importation 
of  such  Persons  as  any  of  the  States  now 
existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not 
be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the 
Year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight, 
but  a  Tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such 
Importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for 
each  Person.] 


APPENDIX  A  147 

The  Privilege  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Cor-  64 
pus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when  in 
Cases  of  Rebellion  or  Invasion  the  public 
Safety  may  require  it. 

No  Bill  of  Attainder  or  ex  post  facto  Law  65 
shall  be  passed. 

No  Capitation,  or  other  direct,  Tax  shall  66 
be  laid,  unless  in  Proportion  to  the  Census  or 
Enumeration  herein   before   directed  to   be 
taken. 

No  Tax  or  Duty  shall  be  laid  on  Articles  67 
exported  from  any  State. 

No  Preference  shall  be  given  by  any  Regu- 
lation of  Commerce  or  Revenue  to  the  Ports  68 
of  one  State  over  those  of  another :  nor  shall 
Vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be 
obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay  Duties  in  an- 
other. 

No  Money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treas-  69 
ury,  but  in  Consequence  of  Appropriations 
made  by  Law ;  and  a  regular  Statement  and  70 
Account  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of 
all  public  Money  shall  be  published  from  time 
to  time. 

No  Title  of  Nobility  shall  be  granted  by  71 
the  United  States:  And  no  Person  holding 
any  Office  of  Profit  or  Trust  under  them, 
shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress, 
accept  of  any  present,  Emolument,  Office,  or 
Title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  King, 
Prince,  or  foreign  State. 


148  APPENDIX  A 

72  SECTION  10.     No     State    shall    enter    into 
any    Treaty,    Alliance,    or    Confederation; 
grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal;  coin 
Money ;  emit  Bills  of  Credit ;  make  any  Thing 
but  gold  and  silver  Coin  a  Tender  in  Pay- 

73  ment  of  Debts;  pass  any  Bill  of  Attainder, 
ex  post  facto  Law,   or  Law  impairing  the 
Obligation  of  Contracts,  or  grant  any  Title 
of  Nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the 

74  Congress,  lay  any  Imposts  or  Duties  on  Im- 
ports or  Exports,  except  what  may  be  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  executing  its  inspection 

75  Laws :  and  the  net  Produce  of  all  Duties  and 
Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  Imports  or  Ex- 
ports, shall  be  for  the  Use  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States ;  and  all  such  Laws  shall  be 
subject  to  the  Revision  and  Control  of  Con- 
gress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  Con- 

76  gress,  lay  any  Duty  of  Tonnage,  keep  Troops, 
or  Ships  of  War  in  time  of  Peace,  enter  into 
any   Agreement   or   Compact   with   another 

77  State,  or  with  a  foreign  Power,  or  engage  in 
War  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  im- 
minent Danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE  II 

78  SECTION  1.     The  executive  Power  shall  be 
vested  in  a  President  of  the  United  States  of 


APPENDIX  A  149 

America.     He  shall  hold  his  Office  during  the 
Term  of  four  Years,  and,  together  with  the  79 
Vice  President,  chosen  for  the  same  Term,  be 
elected,  as  follows 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  Manner  80 
as  the  Legislature  thereof  may  direct,  a  Num- 
ber of  Electors,  equal  to  the  whole  Number 
of   Senators   and   Representatives  to   which  81 
the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress: 
but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or  Person 
holding  an  Office  of  Trust  or  Profit  under  the 
United  States,  shall  be  appointed  an  Elector. 

[The-  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respec- 
tive States,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  two  Per- 
sons, of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  82 
Inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  them- 
selves. And  they  shall  make  a  List  of  all  the 
Persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  Number  of 
Votes  for  each;  which  List  they  shall  sign 
and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  Seat 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The 
President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  Pres- 
ence of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, open  all  the  Certificates,  and  the  Votes 
shall  then  be  counted.  The  Person  having 
the  greatest  Number  of  Votes  shall  be  the 
President,  if  such  Number  be  a  Majority  of  83 
the  whole  Number  of  Electors  appointed; 
and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who  have  such 
a  Majority,  and  have  an  equal  Number  of 


150  APPENDIX  A 

Votes,  then  the  House  of  Representatives 
shall  immediately  chuse  by  Ballot  one  of 
them  for  President ;  and  if  no  Person  have  a 
Majority,  then  from  the  five  highest  on  the 
List  the  said  House  shall  in  like  Manner 
chuse  the  President.  But  in  ch using  the 
President,  the  Votes  shall  be  taken  by  States, 
the  Representation  from  each  State  having 

84  one  Vote;  A  quorum  for  this  Purpose  shall 
consist  of  a  Member  or  Members  from  two- 
thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  Majority  of  all 
the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  Choice.     In 
every  Case,  after  the  Choice  of  the  President, 
the  Person  having  the  greatest  Number  of 

85  Votes  of  the  Electors  shall  be  the  Vice  Pres- 
ident.    But  if  there  should  remain  two  or 
more  who  have  equal  Votes,  the  Senate  shall 
chuse  from  them  by  Ballot  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent.] 

The  Congress  may  determine  the  Time  of 
chusing  the  Electors,  and  the  Day  on  which 
they  shall  give  their  Votes ;  which  Day  shall 
be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

No  Person  except  a  natural  born  Citizen, 

86  or  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States,   at  the 
time  of  the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  Office  of  President; 
neither  shall  any  Person  be  eligible  to  that 

87  Office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  Age 
of  thirty-five  Years,  and  been  fourteen  Years 
a  Resident  within  the  United  States. 


APPENDIX  A  151 

In  Case  of  the  Removal  of  the  President 
from  Office,  or  of  his  Death,  Resignation,  or 
Inability  to  discharge  the  Powers  and  Duties  88 
of  the  said  Office,  the  Same  shall  devolve  on 
the  Vice  President,  and  the  Congress  may  by 
Law  provide  for  the  Case  of  Removal,  Death,  89 
Resignation  or  Inability,  both  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Vice  President,  declaring  what 
Officer  shall  then  act  as  President,  and  such 
Officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  Dis- 
ability be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be 
elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  Times,  re- 
ceive for  his  Services,  a  Compensation  which  90 
shall  neither  be  encreased  nor  diminished 
during  the  Period  for  which  he  shall  have 
been  elected,  and  he  shall  not  receive  within 
that  Period  any  other  Emolument  from  the 
United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  Execution  of  his 
Office,  he  shall  take  the  following  Oath  or 
Affirmation: — "I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  af-  91 
firm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  Office 
of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will  to 
the  best  of  my  Ability,  preserve,  protect  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States/' 

SECTION  2.     The   President   shall   be    Com-  92 
mander  in  Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  Militia  of  the 


152  APPENDIX  A 

several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual 

93  Service  of  the  United  States;  he  may  re- 
quire the  Opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  prin- 
cipal Officer  in  each  of  the  Executive  Depart- 
ments,  upon   any   Subject   relating   to   the 

94  Duties  of  their  respective  Offices,  and  he  shall 
have  Power  to  grant  Reprieves  and  Pardons 
for  Offences  against  the  United  States,  ex- 
cept in  Cases  of  Impeachment. 

He   shall  have  Power,   by   and  with  the 
Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Senate,  to  make 

95  Treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Senators 
present  concur;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and 
by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the 

96  Senate,    shall    appoint    Ambassadors,    other 
public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  Judges  of  the 

97  supreme  Court,  and  all  other  Officers  of  the 
United  States,  whose  Appointments  are  not 
herein   otherwise  provided   for,   and   which 
shall  be  established  by  Law:  but  the  Con- 

98  gress  may  by  Law  vest  the  Appointment  of 
such  inferior  Officers,  as  they  think  proper, 
in  the  President  alone,  in  the  Courts  of  Law, 
or  in  the  Heads  of  Departments. 

The  President  shall  have  Power  to  fill  up 

99  all  Vacancies  that  may  happen  during  the 
Recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  Commis- 
sions which  shall  expire  at  the  End  of  their 
next  Session. 

SECTION  3.     He  shall  from  time  to  time  give 


APPENDIX  A  153 

to  the  Congress  Information  of  the  State  of 
the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  Consid- 
eration such  Measures  as  he  shall  judge  nec- 
essary and  expedient ;  he  may,  on  extraor-  100 
dinary  Occasions,  convene  both  Houses,  or 
either  of  them,  and  in  Case  of  Disagreement 
between  them,  with  Respect  to  the  time  of 
Adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them  to  such  101 
Time  as  he  shall  think  proper;  he  shall  re- 
ceive Ambassadors  and  other  public  Minis- 
ters; he  shall  take  Care  that  the  Laws  be  102 
faithfully  executed,  and  shall  Commission  all 
the  Officers  of  the  United  States. 

SECTION  4.     The  President,  Vice  President  103 
and  all  civil  Officers  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  removed  from  Office  on  Impeach- 
ment for,  and  Conviction  of,  Treason,  Bri-  104 
bery,  or  other  high  Crimes  and  Misdemean- 
ors. 

ARTICLE  III 

SECTION  1.     The    judicial    Power    of    the 
United  States,  shall  be  vested  in  one  supreme  105 
Court,  and  in  such  inferior  Courts  as  the 
Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and 
establish.     The  Judges,  both  of  the  supreme 
and  inferior  Courts,  shall  hold  their  Offices  106 
during  good  Behaviour,  and  shall,  at  stated 
Times,  receive  for  their  Services,  a  Compen- 


154  APPENDIX  A 

sation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished  during 
their  continuance  in  Office. 

SECTION  2.  The  judicial  Power  shall  extend 
to  all  Cases,  in  Law  and  Equity,  arising  un- 
der this  Constitution,  the  Laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  Treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be 
made,  under  their  Authority; — to  all  Cases 

107  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Minis- 
ters and  Consuls; — to  all  Cases  of  admiralty 
and  maritime  Jurisdiction; — to  Controversies 

108  to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  Party; 
— to    Controversies    between    two    or    more 

109  States ; — between  a  State  and  Citizens  of  an- 
other State; — between   Citizens  of  different 
States; — between  Citizens  of  the  same  State 
claiming  Lands  under   Grants   of   different 
States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  Citizens 
thereof,  and  foreign  States,  Citizens  or  Sub- 
jects. 

In  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other 
public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  and  those  in 
which  a  State  shall  be  a  Party,  the  supreme 

110  Court  shall  have  original  Jurisdiction.     In 
all  the  other  Cases  before  mentioned,   the 
supreme   Court  shall  have  appellate  Juris- 
diction, both  as  to  Law  and  Fact,  with  such 
Exceptions,  and  under  such  regulations  as 
the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  Trial  of  all  Crimes,  except  in  Cases  of 

111  Impeachment,  shall  be  by  Jury;  and  such 


APPENDIX  A  155 

Trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the 
said  Crimes  shall  have  been  committed;  but 
when  not  committed  within  any  State,  the 
Trial  shall  be  at  such  Place  or  Places  as  the 
Congress  may  by  Law  have  directed. 

SECTION  3.     Treason    against    the     United  112 
States,   shall   consist   only  in   levying  War 
against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  Ene- 
mies,  giving  them   Aid   and    Comfort.     No 
Person  shall  be  convicted  of  Treason  unless  113 
on  the  Testimony  of  two  Witnesses  to  the 
same  overt  Act,  or  on  Confession  in  open 
Court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  declare  114 
the  Punishment  of  Treason,  but  no  Attainder 
of  Treason  shall  work  Corruption  of  Blood, 
or  Forfeiture  except  during  the  Life  of  the 
Person  attainted. 

ARTICLE  IV 

SECTION  1.  Full  Faith  and  Credit  shall  be  115 
given  in  each  State  to  the  public  Acts,  Rec- 
ords, and  judicial  Proceedings  of  every  other 
State.  And  the  Congress  may  by  general 
Laws  prescribe  the  Manner  in  which  such 
Acts,  Records  and  Proceedings  shall  be 
proved,  and  the  Effect  thereof. 

SECTION  2.     The  Citizens  of  each  State  shall  116 


156  APPENDIX  A 

be  entitled  to  all  Privileges  and  Immunities 
of  Citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  Person  charged  in  any  State  with  Trea- 

117  son,  Felony,  or  other  Crime,  shall  on  De- 
mand of  the  executive  Authority  of  the  State 
from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  re- 
move to   the   State   having   Jurisdiction  of 
the  Crime. 

[No  Person  held  to  Service  or  Labour  in 
one  State,  under  the  Laws  thereof,  escaping 
into  another,  shall,  in  Consequence  of  any 
Law  or  Regulation  therein,  be  discharged 
from  such  Service  or  Labour,  but  shall  be 
delivered  up  on  Claim  of  the  Party  to  whom 
such  Service  or  Labour  may  be  done.] 

118  SECTION  3.     New  States  may  be  admitted  by 
the  Congress  into  this  Union;  but  no  new 
State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the 
Jurisdiction  of  any  other  State,  nor  any  State 
be  formed  by  the  Junction  of  two  or  more 
States,  or  Parts  of  States,  without  the  Con- 
sent of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  con- 
cerned as  well  as  of  the  Congress. 

119  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dispose 
of  and  make  all  needful  Rules  and  Regula- 
tions respecting  the  Territory  or  other  Prop- 
erty belonging  to  the  United   States;   and 
nothing  in  this  Constitution  shall  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  Prejudice  any  Claims  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 


APPENDIX  A  157 

SECTION  4.     The  United  States  shall  guaran-  120 
tee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  Republican 
Form  of  Government,  and  shall  protect  each 
of  them  against  Invasions;  and  on  Applica- 
tion of  the  Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  121 
(when  the  Legislature  cannot  be  convened) 
against  domestic  Violence. 

ARTICLE  V 

The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds  of  both  122 
Houses  shall  deem  it  necessary,  shall  propose 
Amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  the 
Application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two-thirds 
of  the  several  States,  shall  call  a  Convention 
for  proposing  Amendments,  which,  in  either 
Case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  Intents  and  Pur- 
poses, as  Part  of  this  Constitution,  when 
ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths  123 
of  the  several  States,  or  by  Conventions  in 
three-fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other 
Mode  of  Ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the 
Congress;  Provided  that  no  Amendment 
which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  Year  One 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in 
any  Manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth 
Clauses  in  the  Ninth  Section  of  the  first 
Article;  and  that  no  State,  without  its  Con-  124 
sent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  Suffrage 
in  the  Senate. 


158  APPENDIX  A 


ARTICLE  VI 

All  Debts  contracted  and  Engagements  en- 

125  tered  into,  before  the  Adoption  of  this  Con- 
stitution, shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United 
States  under  this  Constitution,  as  under  the 
Confederation. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  Laws  of  the 

126  United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  Pur- 
suance thereof;   and  all  Treaties  made,   or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  the  Authority  of 
the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  Law 
of  the  Land;  and  the  Judges  in  every  State 

127  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any  Thing  in  the 
Constitution  or  Laws  of  any  State  to  the 
Contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  before 
mentioned,  and  the  Members  of  the  several 
State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  ju- 
dicial Officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and 
of  the  several  States,  shall  be  bound  by  Oath 

128  or  Affirmation,  to  support  this  Constitution  ; 
but  no  religious  Test  shall  ever  be  required 
as  a  Qualification  to   any  Office  or  public 
Trust  under  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  VII 

129  The   Ratification    of   the    Conventions    of 
nine  States,  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  Estab- 


APPENDIX  A 


159 


lishment   of   this   Constitution   between 
States  so  ratifying  the  same. 


the 


Done  in  Convention  by  the  Unanimous 
Consent  of  the  States  present  the  Seven- 
teenth Day  of  September  in  the  Year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
Eighty  seven  and  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America  the  Twelfth.  In  130 
Witness  whereof  We  have  hereunto  sub- 
scribed our  Names, 

G°:  WASHINGTON— Presidt. 

and  deputy  from  Virginia 

Attest  WILLAM  JACKSON  Secretary 

[JOHN  LANGDON 


New  Hampshire 
Massachusetts 

Connecticut 
New  York 

New  Jersey 


[NICHOLAS  GILMAN 

[NATHANIEL  GORHAM 
[BuFus  KING 

J  WM.  SAML.  JOHNSON 
[ROGER  SHERMAN 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON 

'WiL:  LIVINGSTON 
DAVID  BREARLEY 
WM.  PATERSON 
JONA  :  DAYTON 


160 


APPENDIX  A 


Pennsylvania 


Delaware 


Maryland 


Virginia 


North  Carolina 


Georgia 


B.  FRANKLIN 
THOMAS  MIFFLIN 
ROBT.  MORRIS 
GEO.  CLYMER 
THOS.  FITZ  SIMONS 
JARED  INGERSOLL 
JAMES  WILSON 
Gouv  MORRIS 

GEO: READ 

GUNNING  BEDFORD  jun 
JOHN  DICKINSON 
RICHARD  BASSETT 
JACO  :  BROOM 

JAMES  MCHENRY 

DAN  OF  ST  THOS.  JENIFER 

DANL  CARROLL, 


[JOHN  BLAIR — 
1  JAMES  MADISON  JR. 

(WM  :  BLOUNT 
RICHD.  DOBBS  SPAIGHT 
Hu  WILLIAMSON 

f  J.  RUTLEDGE 

CHARLES  COTESWORTH  PINCKNEY 
CHARLES  PINCKNEY 
[PIERCE  BUTLER 

[WILLIAM  FEW 
1  ABR  BALDWIN 


APPENDIX  A  161 

ARTICLES 

IN 

ADDITION   TO,   AND   AMENDMENT   OF 
THE 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
OF  AMERICA 

PROPOSED  BY   CONGRESS  AND  RATIFIED  BY  THE  LEGISLA- 
TURES OF  THE  SEVERAL  STATES,  PURSUANT  TO  THE 
FIFTH    ARTICLE    OF    THE    CONSTITUTION 

ARTICLE  I 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  131 
establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the 
free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the  free-  132 
dom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press;  or  the  right 
of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  133 
petition   the  Government  for  a  redress   of 
grievances. 

ARTICLE  II 

A  well  regulated  militia,  being  necessary  134 
to  the  security  of  a  free  State,  the  right  of 
the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms,  shall  not 
be  infringed. 


162  APPENDIX  A 


ARTICLE  III 

135  No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace  be  quar- 
tered in  any  house,  without  the  consent  of 
the  Owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  man- 
ner to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  IV 

136  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their 
persons,  houses,  papers,  and  effects,  against 
unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not 
be  violated,  and  no  Warrants  shall  issue,  but 
upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  Oath  or 
affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the 
place  to   be  searched,   and  the   persons  or 
things  to  be  seized. 

ARTICLE  V 

No  person  should  be  held  to  answer  for  a 

137  capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless 
on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  Grand 
Jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or 
naval  forces,  or  in  the  Militia,  when  in  actual 
service  in  the  time  of  War  or  public  danger ; 
nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same 
offence  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or 
limb ;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  Criminal 
Case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be 


APPENDIX  A  163 

deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  with-  138 
out  due  process  of  law;  nor  shall  private 
property  be  taken  for  public  use,  without 
just  compensation. 

ARTICLE  VI 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused 
shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  139 
trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and 
district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been 
committed,  which  district  shall  have  been 
previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  in- 
formed of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusa- 
tion; to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses 
against  him ;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  140 
obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have 
the  Assistance  of  Counsel  for  his  defence. 

ARTICLE  VII 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  141 
in  controversy  shall  exceed  twenty  dollars, 
the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved, 
and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  other- 
wise re-examined  in  any  Court  of  the  United 
States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
common  law. 


164  APPENDIX  A 

ARTICLE  VIII 

142  Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor 
excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  un- 
usual punishments  inflicted. 

ARTICLE  IX 

143  The   enumeration  in  the   Constitution  of 
certain  rights,  shall  not  be  construed  to  deny 
or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE  X 

144  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by- 
it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

ARTICLE  XI 

145  The  Judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
shall  not  be  construed  to  extend  to  any  suit 
in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  Citizens 
of  another  State,  or  by  Citizens  or  Subjects 
of  any  Foreign  State. 

ARTICLE  XII 

146  The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective 
States,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  President  and 


APPENDIX  A  165 

Vice  President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall 
not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with 
themselves;  they  shall  name  in  their  ballots 
the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in  147 
distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice 
President,  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists 
of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of 
all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice  President,  and 
of  the  number  of  votes  for  each,  which  lists 
they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit 
sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of 
the  Senate;— The  President  of  the  Senate 
shall,  in  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates 
and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted; — The 
person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes 
for  President,  shall  be  the  President,  if  such 
number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of 
Electors  appointed;  and  if  no  person  have 
such  majority,  then  from  the  persons  having 
the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding  three  on 
the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  im- 
mediately, by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  14& 
choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be 
taken  by  States,  the  representation  from  each 
State  having  one  vote;  a  quorum  for  this 
purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  mem- 
bers from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary 


166  APPENDIX  A 

to  a  choice.  And  if  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives shall  not  choose  a  President  when- 
ever the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon 
them,  before  the  fourth  day  of  March  next 
following,  then  the  Vice  President  shall  act 
as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or 
other  constitutional  disability  of  the  Presi- 
dent. The  person  having  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  votes  as  Vice  President,  shall  be  the 
Vice  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority 
of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed, 
and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from 
the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list,  the 
Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice  President;  a 
quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and 
a  majority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  nec- 
essary to  a  choice.  But  no  person  consti- 
tutionally ineligible  to  the  office  of  President 
shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice  President  of 
the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  XIII 

149  SECTION  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involun- 
tary servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for 
crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United 
States,  or  any  place  subject  to  their  juris- 
diction. 

SECTION  2.     Congress  shall  have  power  to 


APPENDIX  A  167 

enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legisla- 
tion. 


ARTICLE  XIV 

SECTION  1.    All  persons  born  or  natural- 
ized in  the  United   States,  and  subject  to  150 
the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they 
reside.     No  State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  151 
law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  im- 
munities of  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  nor 
shall  any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  152 
law ;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  juris- 
diction the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

SECTION  2.  Representatives  shall  be  ap- 
portioned among  the  several  States  accord-  153 
ing  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the 
whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  ex- 
cluding Indians  not  taxed.  But  when  the 
right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of 
electors  for  President  and  Vice  President  of 
the  United  States,  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress, the  Executive  and  Judicial  officers  of 
a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature 
thereof,  is  denied  to  any  of  the  male  inhab- 
itants of  such  State,  being  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or 
in  any  way  abridged,  except  for  participa- 
tion in  rebellion,  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  154 


168  APPENDIX  A 

representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the 
proportion  which  the  number  of  such  male 
citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of 
male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such 
State. 

SECTION  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator 
or  Representative  in  Congress,  or  elector  of 
President  and  Vice  President,  or  hold  any 
office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United 
States,  or  under  any  State,  who,  having  pre- 
viously taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States, 
or  as  a  member  of  any  State  legislature,  or 
as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any 
State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the 

155  United  States  shall  have  engaged  in  insur- 
rection   or   rebellion    against    the    same,    or 
given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof. 
But  Congress  may  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of 
each  House,  remove  such  disability. 

SECTION  4.     The   validity   of   the    public 

156  debt  of  the  United  States,  authorized  by  law, 
including   debts   incurred    for   payment   of 
pensions  and  bounties  for  services  in  sup- 
pressing insurrection  or  rebellion,  shall  not 

157  be  questioned.     But  neither  the  United  States 
nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt 
or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection 
or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any 
claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any 


APPENDIX  A  169 

slave;  but  all  such   debts,   obligations  and 
claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

SECTION  5.     The     Congress     shall     have  158 
power  to  enforce,  by  appropriate  legislation, 
the  provisions  of  this  article. 

ARTICLE  XV 

SECTION  1.     The  right  of  citizens  of  the  159 
United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or 
abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any 
State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude. 

SECTION  2.  The  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate 
legislation. 

ARTICLE  XVI 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and 
collect    taxes    on    incomes    from    whatever  160 
source  derived,  without  apportionment  among 
the  several  States,  and  without  regard  to  any 
census  or  enumeration. 

ARTICLE  XVII 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
composed  of  two  Senators  from  each  State, 
elected  by  the  people  thereof,  for  six  years; 
and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote.  The  161 


170  APPENDIX  A 

electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  qualifica- 
tions requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numer- 
ous branch  of  the  State  legislatures. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representa- 
tion of  any  State  in  the  Senate,  the  executive 
authority  of  such  State  shall  issue  writs  of 
election  to  fill  such  vacancies:  Provided, 
That  the  legislature  of  any  State  may  em- 
power the  executive  thereof  to  make  tem- 
porary appointments  until  the  people  fill  the 
vacancies  by  election  as  the  legislature  may 
direct. 

This  amendment  shall  not  be  so  construed 
as  to  affect  the  election  or  term  of  any  Sen- 
ator chosen  before  it  becomes  valid  as  part 
of  the  Constitution. 


APPENDIX  B 

NEW   YORK   STATE   ELECTION   LAWS 

General  Election.  The  General  Election  takes 
place  each  year  on  the  Tuesday  after  the  first  Mon- 
day in  November,  the  polls  being  open  continuously 
from  6  A.  M.  until  5  p.  M.  A  vote  on  national,  state, 
county,  city,  town  and  village  officers  and  on  con- 
stitutional amendments  and  public  questions  is  taken 
on  this  date  in  varying  years.  Every  fourth  year 
the  General  Election  is  on  the  same  day  as  the  Na- 
tional Presidential  Election,  when  45  electors  for 
President  and  Vice  President  of  the  United  States 
are  elected  by  state-wide  vote.  The  Governor,  Lieu- 
tenant Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  Comptroller, 
Treasurer,  Attorney-General  and  State  Engineer  are 
chosen  at  the  General  Election  each  even-numbered 
year.  The  state  is  represented  in  the  national  Sen- 
ate by  two  senators,  each  holding  office  for  six  years. 
A  new  senator  is  elected  at  the  General  Election  pre- 
ceding the  expiration  of  the  term  of  the  holder  of 
the  office.  A  Congressman  from  each  of  the  43  con- 
gressional districts  is  elected  each  even-numbered 
year,  as  well  as  a  state  senator  from  each  of  the  51 
senatorial  districts.  An  assemblyman  from  each  of 
the  150  assembly  districts  is  elected  each  year.  The 

171 


172  APPENDIX  B 

fourteen-year  terms  of  office  of  the  seven  judges  of 
the  court  of  appeals  and  of  the  supreme  court  judges 
expire  in  varying  years,  and  their  successors  are 
chosen  at  the  General  Elections  preceding  the  expi- 
ration of  the  terms.  County  officers  are  elected  at 
the  General  Election  in  odd-numbered  years,  as  are 
officers  in  first  and  second  and  some  third  class  cities. 
Smaller  communities  have  their  elections  on  varying 
dates. 

Qualifications  of  Voters.  A  qualified  voter  is  a 
citizen  who  is  or  will  be  on  the  day  of  election  21 
years  old,  who  has  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  state 
for  one  year  preceding  the  election,  who  has  been  a 
resident  of  the  county  for  the  last  four  months,  who 
has  been  a  resident  of  the  election  district  in  which 
he  votes  for  the  last  30  days.  If  a  naturalized  citi- 
zen he  must  in  addition  to  the  foregoing  provisions 
have  been  naturalized  at  least  90  days  prior  to  the 
election.  Property-owning  qualifications  are  neces- 
sary for  voting  on  some  town  and  village  questions. 
The  ownership  of  property  taxable  for  school  pur- 
poses or  the  guardianship  of  a  child  of  school  age 
is  also  necessary  for  voting  in  school  district  meet- 
ings. 

Registration  of  Voters.  Days  are  appointed  an- 
nually in  each  district  for  the  registration  of  voters. 
At  this  time  are  registered,  the  name,  address,  occu- 
pation and  other  statistics  concerning  the  applicant. 
In  cities  and  villages  of  5,000  or  more  inhabitants 
only  those  may  be  registered  who  appear  personally 
at  the  appointed  time.  In  an  election  district  sit- 


APPENDIX  B  173 

uated  wholly  outside  a  city  or  village  of  5,000  or 
more  inhabitants  the  election  inspectors  register  with- 
out personal  application  the  names  of  those  voting  at 
the  last  General  Election  still  living  in  the  district 
and  the  names  of  such  others  as  are  shown  to  be  quali- 
fied to  be  registered.  On  registration  days  registra- 
tion may  be  made  for  any  election  in  the  district 
during  the  following  year,  provided  the  citizen  will 
be  qualified  to  vote  on  the  day  of  election.  A  person 
who  has  been  registered  and  who  changes  his  resi- 
dence within  the  same  election  district  may  state  the 
change  to  the  election  inspectors  on  registration  day 
or  election  day. 

Official  Primary  Elections.  An  official  primary 
election  is  held  each  year  on  the  seventh  Tuesday  be- 
fore the  General  Election.  In  the  year  of  a  National 
Presidential  Election  an  additional  official  primary 
is  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  April.  On  these  days 
the  political  parties  choose  their  candidates,  the  offi- 
cial polling  places  and  regular  election  officers  being 
used.  Each  primary  is  open  for  voting  from  7  A.  M. 
until  9  P.  M.,  except  in  a  city  of  more  than  1,000,000 
inhabitants,  where  the  primaries  are  open  from  3 
p.  M  until  9  P.  M.  To  be  entitled  to  vote  at  an  official 
primary  election  a  citizen  must  have  enrolled  in  the 
preceding  year  as  a  member  of  the  party  holding  the 
election  and  must  be  qualified  to  vote  on  the  day  of 
election. 

Party  Enrollment.  Party  enrollment  is  made  on 
registration  day  where  personal  registration  is  re- 
quired. A  person  enrolled  as  a  member  of  one  po- 


174  APPENDIX  B 

litical  party  may  not  enroll  as  a  member  of  any  other 
political  party  before  the  first  day  of  the  next  regis- 
tration except  in  the  instance  of  one  who  has  been 
an  enrolled  member  of  the  same  political  party  for 
five  years.  If  by  mistake  such  a  person  enrolls  with 
a  different  political  party,  the  enrollment  may  be 
cancelled  upon  application  to  the  custodian  of  the 
primary  records  and  the  voter  may  again  be  en- 
rolled with  his  party.  One  who  becomes  of  age  after 
the  General  Election  may  enroll  as  a  member  of  a 
political  party  on  or  before  the  fourth  Tuesday  pre- 
ceding an  official  primary  election  of  the  party.  No 
voter  may  take  part  in  any  primary  election  of  any 
party  other  than  the  party  in  which  he  is  at  that 
time  enrolled.  A  voter  already  enrolled  who  moves 
into,  another  election  district  in  the  same  assembly 
district  may  at  any  time  between  February  1st  and 
the  thirtieth  day  before  the  annual  primary  election 
become  enrolled  therein  as  a  member  of  the  same 
party  by  making  application  to  the  proper  official 
and  filing  an  affidavit  with  the  custodian  of  primary 
records. 

Casting  a  Vote.  A  voter  on  entering  the  appointed 
polling  place  to  vote  at  an  election,  gives  his  name 
and  address  to  the  election  inspectors.  If  his  right 
to  vote  is  not  challenged,  the  voter  proceeds  to  the 
machine,  or  where  ballots  are  used,  a  ballot  or  set  of 
ballots  is  presented  by  the  ballot  clerks.  At  the 
head  of  each  ballot  are  instructions  for  marking  it. 
The  marked  ballot  is  returned  to  the  inspector  in 
charge  of  the  ballot  box.  If  the  ballot  or  set  of  bal- 


APPENDIX  B  175 

lots  is  spoiled  others  may  be  obtained,  not  exceeding 
three  sets. 

Time  Allowed  Employees  to  Vote.  Any  person  en- 
titled to  vote  at  a  General  Election  may  absent  him- 
self from  his  service  or  employment  for  a  period  of 
two  hours  during  the  time  that  the  polls  are  open. 
If  the  voter  notifies  his  employer  of  such  intended 
absence,  time  is  designated  by  the  employer  and  the 
voter  is  absent  during  the  designated  hours ;  or  if  the 
employer  upon  the  day  of  such  notice  makes  no  desig- 
nation and  the  voter  is  absent  from  business  during 
any  two  consecutive  hours  while  the  polls  are  open, 
no  deduction  shall  be  made  from  his  usual  salary  and 
no  other  penalty  shall  be  imposed  by  the  employer 
for  such  absence. 

Party  Committees.  One  member  is  elected  from 
each  assembly  district  in  even-numbered  years  to  the 
party  state  committee.  One  member  is  elected  from 
each  election  district  annually  to  the  party  county 
committee.  Delegates  and  alternates  to  the  national 
party  convention  are  elected  from  congressional  dis- 
tricts and  from  the  state  at  large,  the  number  from 
the  state  at  large  being  limited  to  four  delegates  and 
alternates. 

Designation  of  Candidates.  Designation  of  candi- 
dates for  party  nomination  or  for  election  to  party 
positions  is  by  petition  only,  the  number  of  signa- 
tures required  varying  according  to  the  office  and 
population  of  the  community.  No  enrolled  voter 
shall  join  in  designating  a  greater  number  of  candi- 
dates for  any  position  than  the  number  to  be  elected 


176  APPENDIX  B 

thereto.  All  such  petitions  must  be  filed  not  earlier 
than  the  fifth  Tuesday  and  not  later  than  the  fourth 
Tuesday  preceding  the  primary  at  which  the  candi- 
dates are  to  be  voted  for. 


FINIS 


INDEX 


(References  are  to  pages) 


Agriculture,  Department  of, 
33 

Alaska,  government  of,  72 

Aldermen,  Board  of,  65 

Aliens,  8,  9 

Ambassadors,  94 

Amendment,  of  State  consti- 
tutions, 6;  of  the  federal 
constitution,  7 

Amendments  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  fourteenth,  8,  12; 
fifteenth,  14 

Anarchy,  9 

Anti-Trust  Law,  134 

Apportionment  of  Represen- 
tatives, 17 

Arbitration,   98 

Assessment,  103 

Assessors,  59,  111 

Attorney  General,  of  United 
States,  32 :  of  a  State,  55 

Auditor,  of  State,  54 ;  of  coun- 
ty, 59 


B 


Bail,  11 

Banks,  postal  savings,  33;  na- 
tional, 118;  federal  reserve, 
119:  Farm  Loan,  121 

Bank  notes,  117 


Bills,  passage  of  in  Congress, 
21;  in  State  legislatures,  46 
Bland-Allison  Act,  115 
Bonds,   113 
Boroughs,  63 


Cabinet  of  the  President,  29 
Campaign,  the  presidential,  84 
Candidates,  nomination  of,  79 
Capitation  tax,   103 
Casting  a  Vote,  174 
Caucus,  81 
Chancery  courts,   41 
Child  Labor  Law,  federal,  88 
Circuit     Court     of     Appeals 

(federal),  43 

Circuit  Courts  (State),  38 
Cities,  64-69 
Citizenship,  8-16 
City  Manager  Plan,  67 
Civil  Service,  the  national,  35 
Coinage,   115-117 
Commerce,   123-129 
Commerce,  Department  of,  34 
Commission    System    of    mu- 
nicipal government,  67 
Committees,  of  Congress,  19; 

of  State  legislatures,  146 
Comptroller  of  State,  60 
Congress      (of     the     United 
States),    17-25 


177 


178 


INDEX 


Constitutional  conventions,  6 

Constitutional   government,   5 

Constitutions  (State),  5-7 

Consuls,  96 

Conventions  of  political  par- 
ties, 82-84 

Coroner,  59 

Corporations   ( municipal ) ,  63 

Corporations  (private),  130- 
135 

Council  system  of  municipal 
government,  64 

County,  the,  57-60 

County  convention,  82 

Courts  (federal),  42-44; 
(State),  37-42 

Custom   Duties,    103 


Democracy,   3-4 
Democratic  Platform,  87 
Demonetization  of  silver,  115 
Dependencies,   71-78 
Designation     of     Candidates, 

175 

Direct  Nominations,  80-81 
District  courts    (federal),  42 
District  courts   (State),  38 
Duties  of  citizenship,  15 


Elections,  84,  171 
Electors,  Presidential,  84,  85 
Equal  Guardianship  Law,  xiii 
Equalization  of  taxes,  111 
Executive     departments,     na- 
tional, 31-35;   State,  52-56 
Expenditures,   national,    105 


Federal  courts,  42-44 
Federal  Reserve  Board,  121 
Finance,  106-114 
Floor  leader,  23 
Free    trade    and    protection, 
123-125 

G 

Gold,  coinage  of,  115-117 

Government  Printing  Office, 
35 

Governor  of  a  State,  52-54; 
of  Territories  and  Depend- 
encies, 72-78 

Graduated  taxation,  103 

Grand  Jury,  39 

Greenbacks,   117-118 

Guam,  government  of,   78 


Habeas    Corpus,    1 1 
Hawaii,  government  of,  74 
House  of  Representatives,  17— 
23 


Immigration,     regulation    of, 

124 

Impeachment,  24 
Income  tax,  102 
Indian  reservations,   73 
Inheritance  tax,  102,  105 
Initiative     and     Referendum, 

47-50 

Injunction,  writ  of,  42 
Insular  possessions,  74-78 
Interior,  Department  of,  33 
Internal    revenue    taxes,    31, 

103,    108 


INDEX 


179 


International    relations,     94- 

100 

Interstate  commerce,  126-128 
Interstate     Commerce     Com- 
mission, 35,  127 


Judiciary     (federal),    42-44; 

(State),  37-42 
Jury,  trial  by,  39-40 
Justice,  Department  of,  32 
Justices  of  the  peace,  38 
Juvenile  Court  Law  in  Colo- 
rado, xv 


Labor,  Department  of,  34 
Library  of  Congress,  35 
Lieutenant  Governor,  52,  54 

M 

Mandamus,  42 

Mayor,  65 

Ministers,  94-96 

Money,   115-122 

Monopoly,   134 

Montana,   Equal  Suffrage  in, 

xiv-xv 
Mothers'  Pension  Law,  xiv 


N 


National  Convention,  83 
National  parks,  73 
Naturalization,  9 
Navy,  Department  of,  33 
New     York     State     Election 
Laws,  171 


New  Zealand,  Equal  Suffrage 

in,  xii 
Nomination  of  candidates,  79 


O 


Office,  right  of  holding,  13 
Official  Primary  Elections,  173 


Panama  Canal  strip,  74 
Parcels  post,  32 
Parks,  national,  73 
Parties,  political,  committees, 
175;    enrollment,    173;    or- 
ganization,     79-85 ;      plat- 
forms, 86-93 
Partnerships,  131-133 
Philippine    Islands,    77 
Political  rights,   13-15 
Popular  government,  3-7 
Porto  Rico,  75 
Postal  Savings  Bank,  33 
Post  Office,  Department  of,  32 
President      of      the      United 

States,  26-30 
Primary    elections     ( official ) , 

173 

Primary  meetings,  81 
Probate  Courts,  41,  58 
Progressive  taxation,    103 
Prohibition  platform,  93 
Property  tax,  101,  110 
Protection     and     free    trade, 

123-125 

Public  debt,  113 
Public  finance,   106-114 

Q 

Qualifications  of  Voters,  172 


180 


INDEX 


R 


Railroads,  126 
Recall,  50 

Recorder,  county,  59 
Redemption  Act,  118 
Referendum,   48-50 
Register  of  deeds,  59 
Registration    of    Voters,    172 
Representative  government,  4 
Representatives,  House  of,  17- 

23 

Republican  Platform,  89 
Rights  of  Citizenship,  8-16 
Rules  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, 21 

S 

Salaries  of  federal  officers,  36 
Samoa,  government  of,  78 
Secretary    of    State,    of    the 
United     States,    31;     of    a 
State,  54 
Senate        (of       the       United 

States),  23-25 
Sheriff,  58 

Sherman  Silver  Act,   116 
Sherman  Anti -trust  Act,  134 
Shipping  Board,  128 
Single  tax,  104 
Smithsonian  Institution,  35 
Socialist-Labor  platform,  90 
Solicitor  general,  32 
Speakership  of  the  House  of 

Representatives,  19 
State  conventions,  82 
State,  Department  of,  31 
States  Attorney,  60 
Subsidiary  coinage,  115 
Superintendent   of   public   in- 
struction, State,  55 


Supervisors,  57 

Supreme  Court  (State),  40 

Supreme  Court  of  the  United 

States,  44 

Surrogate's  court,  41 
Surveyor,  60 


Tariff,   123 

Taxation,   101-105 

Territories,    71-78 

Time   Allowed    Employees   to 

Vote,    175 
Town     (New    England),    60; 

(incorporated),  63 
Township,  61 

Trade  Commission,  35,  135 
Treasurer         (State),        55; 

( county ) ,    59 

Treasury,  Department  of,  31 
Treasury  notes,  116 
Treaties,  26,  98 
Trusts,  134 


Veto,  power  of  President,  27; 

governor,  53 
Vice-President,  23,  28 
Villages,  63 
Virgin  Islands,  78 
Voters,   qualifications   of,    78, 

172;  duties,  13-15 

W 

War,  Department   of,  32 

Woman's  Party  in  Politics, 
xvii-xviii 

Writs,  habeas  corpus,  11;  in- 
junction, 42 ;  mandamus,  42 

Women  Police,  xir 


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University  of  California 

Berkeley 


6636 


U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 

LI 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


